From my pal Ed
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The old days:
1. Go to shop and buy paper, pen and envelope
2. Go back home and write "missive" (you may need to rewrite the whole missive if mistake is spotted or is crucial information is omitted)
3. Place missive in envelope and head to the post office. (this may require a few hours, depending on your proximity to said destination)
4. Reach destination, buy stamp and post missive.
5. Wait for missive to reach destination (this WILL take a number of days)
6. Hope missive does not get lost.
7. Wait for reply. (Again, this WILL take a number of days, or even weeks)
8. Receive reply, read and prepare your own reply. Now go back to step 1 and start again.

Nowadays;
1. Log on
2. Type message, attach photos, files etc
3. Send
4. Wait for reply in a few minutes.