I explained email to my mom with an envelope, and the free stamp was the part I warned her about.
My mom already knew how to mail a letter. So in January 2018, when I published the email video for my Teach My Mom series, I skipped the computer and started at the post office. Email works like a letter. It needs a to address, a from address and a stamp, and the stamp deserves the most attention.
The business case
This isn't a business video, but the trick in it carries over. When you have to explain something new, hang it on something the person already trusts. My mom already knew how mail works. Once you see email as the electronic version of a letter, most of the mystery goes away.
The second lesson is for anyone running a free product. In the video I told her free email isn't really free. You pay with your privacy, and the company shows you ads. If your customers get something for nothing, they deserve to know what they're trading, and you should be able to tell them in one sentence.
The video is from 2018, so a couple of names have aged. Hotmail goes by Outlook.com now, and I've noted that below.
How a letter gets from the States to Canada
Say you're in the States and you want to mail me something in Canada. You take it to the US Postal Service with my details on it. They pass it from one place to the next until it crosses the border, and Canada Post takes over from there. Canada Post knows my street, and the package says which floor I live on. You gave them enough instructions, so it lands at my door and I get to be happy you sent me something.
You don't need to know what happens in the middle. You can use the US Postal Service, UPS or FedEx, and it still works. A courier like FedEx might skip Canada Post and bring it to me directly, because you paid for the faster, pricier service. The same idea works anywhere in the world, from the post office in Antigua to the one in Australia.
To, from and a stamp
For any of this to work, the envelope needs three things. First, a to address, so they know who gets it. Second, a from address. If I've moved and they can't find me, the post office uses it to send the mail back to you, and you can figure out where I went. Third, a stamp. FedEx and UPS charge you a different way, but you still pay.
Jump to
- 0:00 From the internet to email
- 0:38 How the post office delivers a letter
- 3:44 To, from and a stamp
- 4:58 Email is electronic mail
- 6:25 Free email and your privacy
- 7:23 What the "@gmail" part means
- 9:54 Coming next: getting to your email
The full ten-minute whiteboard version is on my channel: What is an Email? Teach My Mom, on YouTube.
Email is electronic mail
Email stands for electronic mail. It's the electronic version of that envelope. When you email me, you put my address in as the to, and your own address goes in as the from. I wrote two made-up addresses on the whiteboard in the video, and I'm not repeating them here.
Free email and your privacy
Then comes the stamp. With a letter, you pay for it. On the internet, email is usually free, and in the video I wrote "free" in red, because free online is rarely free. Instead of money, you pay with your privacy. The company gives you the service and shows you banners and ads, and the ads cover the cost.
What the "@gmail" part means
The next question is always the part after the @. Think of "@gmail" as the FedEx label. It's the name of the company carrying your mail. When a parcel shows up, you see the FedEx or UPS stamp on the box. Email works the same way, except the company is Google. Google runs the email service and named it Gmail, short for Google Mail. With Yahoo Mail, the company is Yahoo, so the address ends in yahoo.com.
FedEx and UPS don't hand out email addresses. They carry physical mail, so their name goes on the box instead.
Pick a provider, then get the address right
You sign up with whichever email provider you like. In 2018 some people had Gmail, some had Yahoo, some had Hotmail and some had AOL Mail. Microsoft has since renamed Hotmail to Outlook.com, and old Hotmail addresses still work. The provider you pick matters less than the address you type. Get that right and the email reaches the right person.
At the end of the video I promised a part two on getting to your email, like checking it from your phone. That's the next post in the series.
If you're helping a parent set up their first email, start with an envelope on the kitchen table. And if you want to talk tech in plain language with other founders, join me live on Friday.
About Dwain
I'm Dwain Browne, Founder of LeadScore AI and SnapSuite. I'm a Toronto-based software architect with 25+ years across software, sales, operations and entrepreneurship. SnapSuite helps contractors and trades teams get paid faster, and LeadScore AI shows you which leads deserve your next call. I also run Vibe Code to Profit, a community helping people build software with AI.