after the note has been opened. In The Computer Curmudgeon, Guy Kawasaki claims that "receipts are insulting. You are saying to the recipient: 'You're a lazy schlub who never reads his email.'"

Guy has a point, but he goes a little too far. First of all, there are lazy schlubs who never read their email. (See "Email overload imagined" on page 97.) Second, using a receipt is a really good idea when you're not sure whether the email system is working. Where I used to work, the gateway between the Mac mail system and the PC mail system went down all the time. Eventually, I started using a return receipt any time I sent important mail to a PC user because that was the only way I'd know whether the mail had gone through.

Receipts are also useful when you're dealing with high-level executives who are generally good about checking their email but have crazy travel and meeting schedules. If the note isn't read in a reasonable amount of time, you can follow up with a phone call and check whether it was received.

Some systems tell the recipient that you're getting a return receipt and some don't. The ones that notify the mail recipient are practicing better Netiquette.

Prescheduled "ticklers": Friendly reminder or Orwellian control mechanism?