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The Technical Development of Internet Email
- IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
- IEEE Computer Society
- Volume 30, Number 2, April-June 2008
- pp. 3-29
- Article
- Additional Information
Development and evolution of the technologies and standards for Internet email took more than 20 years, and arguably is still under way. The protocols to move email between systems and the rules for formatting messages have evolved, and been largely replaced at least once. This article traces that evolution, with a focus on why things look as they do today.