What is email?

Email isn't just messages on the internet. It's a protocol driven system built for reliable, asynchronous communication between humans and machines.

When you send an email, it travels through servers (MTAs) using SMTP and is fetched later via IMAP or POP3. It's formal, universal, and traceable. Think of it as a vessel carrying a sealed message across digital waters, structured, logged, and accountable. That structure is what makes it dependable decades after its invention.

Over 4.3 billion people use email today, and that number keeps growing every year. Analysts expect it to reach nearly 4.8 billion users soon, more than half of the planet.

It's simple enough for anyone to use, yet complex enough to power global business. Email evolves constantly. What worked in 2004 doesn't work in 2025\. Filters, privacy rules, and inbox algorithms shift daily.

People keep saying email is dead, but it's the same story every year. Like a message in a bottle that keeps washing back to shore, email always finds its way back into the conversation.