The Internet is a great breakthrough in the world of technology. It has facilitated modern life with its easy accessibility. A simple click and you are connected to the world. But unfortunately, like most other inventions, the Internet and e-mail have been exploited and manipulated to serve harmful purpose. Still e-mail messaging is a fascinating phenomenon that has taken the world by its storm, and despite the few advantages, it remains today's number one universal internet.
In the article, "We've Got Mail-Always," written by Andrew Leonard, it mainly discusses the advantages and disadvantages of e-mail system, and some of his personal experiences, where e-mail messaging proved to be a blessing and a curse. Even though he relates many examples from his own experience, he does not take a side to say if e-mail messaging is good or bad. He has neutral opinions from the beginning to the end. .
He begins the essay with a question, "Is e-mail a blessing or a curse?" (230). He then writes about his own experience, in which he states, e-mail "sucks" and "rocks". He then goes on to discuss how e-mail can be a convenience and an inconvenience in our life and says , "E-mail. Can't live with it, can't live without it" (230).
The author continues further with his experiences- good and bad, and why and who bought him a computer. He then narrates various areas of modern life, where the e-mail may be a great help to people who like to be behind the screen, i.e. advantages of online dating: "It offers a semi-risk-free environment to initiate romance" (231), and also within the hierarchies of an office: "Any time when you have something that is difficult to say, e-mail can make it easier" (231).
He also points out the dark side of e-mail messages. When someone does not want to insult in person, e-mail message can be brutal, and also "Instead of crafting the perfect phrase, we use a brain-dead abbreviation" (232).