Email Communication Etiquette and History

Email return receipts are often considered intrusive and unprofessional - they pressure recipients and can be blocked. Best practice is to avoid them unless absolutely necessary for critical business/legal reasons. 'Always' is too aggressive; tracking recipients makes them uncomfortable.

Professional email etiquette expects responses within 24 hours for non-urgent matters. 'As soon as you get the mail' is unrealistic; 'whenever you get time' is unprofessional. 8 hours is too strict for standard business norms.

Email formatting like italics, colors, and special fonts depends on recipient's email client - many strip or mangle HTML/Rich Text. Plain text ensures everyone sees your message as intended. Professional appearance is secondary to technical compatibility.

Ray Tomlinson's first email test (1971) is widely reported as 'qwertyuiop' or similar keyboard testing. This was a technical test, not a meaningful message. The exact content is disputed but this is the expected answer.

Ray Tomlinson sent the first network email in 1971 on ARPANET. 1969 is when ARPANET itself launched; 1973 and 1975 are too late for this foundational milestone.