I know this might seem to be a stupid question in this day and age, but how can I set up an e- mail account? I'm about to buy my first computer and I think I'd like to have e-mail with it.
- Maire, Co Clare
It is not a stupid question at all, though once you get used to using e-mail, it is very easy to forget that it ever seemed like a daunting task to you. First of all, it is useful to explain exactly what it is.
Electronic mail (or e-mail as we all call it now) is a way of sending information from one computer to another. All e-mail accounts can send text, and with a little bit of adaptation using technology easily and freely available on the Internet at www.real.com, you will also be able to send and receive pictures, video and sound.
When you are buying your computer, make sure that there is a modem included in it. You cannot have e-mail without one. It almost certainly will be included anyway as there are very few computers made without them these days, but it is always worth asking. A 56k modem is the one to look for.
Setting up any account, with free or paid for access, with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) will automatically give you up to five e-mail addresses. The instructions for setting up the accounts are on the CD-ROM disc that you need to set up the Internet account in the first place. They are generally clear and easy to follow. The only problem with these is that you can only access the e-mail address from your own computer.
If you are travelling a lot, or simply want to have access to your e-mail address from any computer with a modem, you will have to set up an Internet-based e-mail address. Do not pay for these, as there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of web sites that offer free e-mail addresses.
The first, and still the most famous, of these is Hotmail (www.hotmail.com). Now owned by Microsoft, it was originally set up by two publicity-shy young Californians who figured, correctly, that it must be viable to offer an alternative to the existing, expensive, paid e-mail accounts. They offer two megabytes of free space in each e-mail account (and you can set up as many accounts as you like). Hotmail is so popular these days though, that you are unlikely to get a plain address such as maire@hotmail.com. You could try, but it is likely that that address is already gone, and would you like to have maire100 instead?
This is less likely to happen at the Irish Times web site, www.ireland.com, as its free email service is only 18 months old. Having yourname@ireland.com will impress your relatives around the world, and it offers three megabytes of free space.
So, how easy is it to set it up? Well, having trouble with my regular e-mail account while in California last November, and needing to file a story for this paper, within five minutes of going to Yahoo's site (www.yahoo.com) I not only had a new e-mail address, but I'd also sent a story halfway round the world.
Within a few weeks of starting to use e-mail, you'll wonder how you ever survived without it.
Send your WebWorld queries to pcollins@irishtimes.com or by post to Padraig Collins, The Irish Times New Media, 4th Floor, Ballast House, Aston Quay, Dublin 2.
