Email. We all use it.  Whether you use it on a daily basis or only occasionally, it can’t be denied that electronic mail has transformed the way we live our lives. Businesses have been transformed, families have been brought closer together, and the lowly snail mail letter, which can take days to reach its destination, is no longer preferred when an email can reach its sender in seconds.

But email, like everything else in life, has constantly evolved since the first email was sent over ARPANET in 1971. No longer are we restricted to what Microsoft offers. Today we have a wide variety of choices including the ever popular Gmail. Instead of only having the paid Outlook for desktop emails, you can also choose from free and open source alternatives such as Thunderbird. But email is perhaps now under threat from the rise of other forms of popular communication such as social networks and SMS text messaging.

Below is an infographic, produced by Microsoft, which shows the Evolution Of Email.

Let us know what you think of it and if there is another email fact not shown below. Where do you see email heading in the future? Can it fight off the likes of Facebook and Twitter? Or is its days numbered?