January 4, 2007...........Store and Forward

An inscription on the wall of a cave was man's first store and forward communication system. You store the message in a format that your correspondent can understand and then leave it in a place where he can find it. The personally written letter was a significant improvement. Paper was easier to write on, easier to store, easier to erase, easier to hide from prying eyes, and a heck of a lot easier to transport from one place to another.

Email, the best known store and forward system, came next. For most of the same reasons, it was another big improvement, especially after the protocols were changed to allow attachments and html, etc. Those changes advanced email beyond a mere text medium. Email's chief advantage of course was shorter delivery time, and delivery distance became irrelevant.