A related note I've seen mentioned but can't remember where (Naomi Baron, are you here? you must know, it was probably you) is 19th century London where mail was delivered several times daily. Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning apparently carried out their famed courtship through this mail in a way that parallels email. Nancy Cool! Thanks. I can see myself possibly using the reference in two ways: I've been looking at email as a genre and some of the norms associated with emailing. This is a great sidebar to norms of non electronic letters. Also, I'm working on a movies and technology paper, looking at how movies reflect our attitudes toward technologies (I'm looking specifically at the phone, and computers/email over time). I might be able to drop this anecdote in. Ulla