iPad 2: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition

Chapter 5. Keep in Touch with Email

Email is part of your daily life. You wake up and check your inbox, you go to work and check it once (or a hundred times) more, and you come home and check it yet again to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Today, being able to compose, send, and receive mail on mobile phones means you spend less time in front of a computer, but still, there you are—hunched over a smartphone, squinting and pecking on a tiny screen.

The iPad changes all that. Now, you can lean back on your couch, flip on the tablet, and read and write mail on a spacious 10-inch screen. No more terse, abbreviated messages inspired by a cramped keypad. With the iPad’s full-size on-screen keyboard, you can compose your thoughts completely, without having to drag the laptop out of your home office and wait for it to boot up.

This chapter gives you a tour of the iPad’s email program, from setting up your mail accounts to hitting the Send button on that first message. And remember, when you’re done checking your mail, you’ll find movies, music, and that new best-seller just a tap away—and you don’t even have to leave the couch.

Set Up an Email Account (or Two)

Thanks to its WiFi or Wi-Fi + 3G connectivity, the iPad can grab your email out of thin air. You can read, write, and send messages so you stay in the digital loop of your life.

But to get your messages flowing into the iPad’s mail ...