The non-immediacy of messaging was one of the things I loved so much about FidoNet. A few times a day, your node (BBS) would dial into a hub server somewhere (sometimes over a long distance phone call) and download the mail bundle. The more messages you got, the longer it would take, so there was always some excitement when the bundle was large. You'd read your mail with care--after all, you might get 2-3 private messages a day--and responded with care. Normally, you'd just let your messages get delivered during the next daily mail call but if you had something important to send, you could initiate one manually. If you were sending internationally and didn't mind spending a little coin, it was fun to mark your message as "direct" and watch your node dial up the recipient's node across the pond or the world.
It was remarkable technology for the savvy home computer user in 1989.
It was remarkable technology for the savvy home computer user in 1989.