18 Jul
2008
18 Jul
'08
12:09 p.m.
You are talking about clients, not protocols.
[and other pointed discussions of email]
Keep in mind that the email began* as an application
of the ARPAnet file transfer protocol. Very soon
after the first nodes were hooked up in '69/'70,
people began using the file transfer capabilities
to leave notes for each other. It didn't take long
at all before someone said, "hey, lets put together
an addressing and delivery mechanism" and you had
email. Everything since, has just been refinement
of protocols and particular implementations. The
"first" of one of these warrants very little historical
interest.
*Here I'm talking about email between distinct
computers at geographically separated locations.
Leaving notes for each other on the same machine
predates even that.
BLS