ELECTRONIC MAIL STANDARDS
Nigel Bevan · ACM SIGCHI Bulletin · 1991
Over the past 20 years electronic mail services have evolved from pioneering in-house facilities to extensively-used national and international networks. Electronic mail is now widely provided by individual companies, commercial mail box services, and internet and associated international research networks. Unfortunately there are currently very limited interconnections between internet and company and commercial services. One of the major objectives of the X.400 international standard is to facilitate such interconnections, and to provide a universal naming scheme. We can look forward to a time when all those failed attempts to send internet mail will be forgotten. With one unique address for each mail user valid worldwide, just type it in and you will be sure your mail will reach its destination. Or will you?