What makes email different from instant messaging?
Email uses a store and forward model. Instant messaging depends on a live connection.
When you send an email, it is stored on your server and forwarded along the route until the recipient's server accepts it. The message will wait if needed. An instant message requires both users to be online through the same service.
Email is a cargo relay passing the parcel from port to port until delivery. Instant messaging is a telegraph line that only works while both operators are connected.
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