I recall, back in 1995, trying to decide whether to get an internet account. I only knew two or three people who had them. Email sounded like a cool idea, but you still needed to pick up the phone to get in touch with someone. (Remember when the question was, “Do you have an email address?” instead of, “What is your email address?”)

Getting on the net seemed like a good idea for my writing business, especially for purposes of research. I just wasn’t sure it was worth the money. Back then you bought time on the World Wide Web by the hour, and it was deducted by the minute. If you downloaded a file that was too large, you might use up your entire monthly allotment. I really wanted it, but I needed to justify spending the money.

My justification arrived after a phone call with a new client. A magazine publisher in Texas wanted me to write some articles for him. During the conversation, he said, “I only work with writers who are on email.” I made my decision in that moment. The publisher called me back the next day and said he forgot to ask for my email address, by which time I had one.

 …