That's funny, because at lunch my coworker mentioned my comment without realizing it was me who made it and he was trying to figure out how we had access to e-mail back then. It might have been '87, no later than mid '88 because that's when I left HP Loveland and I'm quite sure it happened before then. I'd put money on the e-mail having been sent with bang-paths.
You mention being on Usenet in 88 or 89, which was after "the great reorganization". I was on Usenet for a while before the reorg, so that'd cement the earlier end at 85-86. I definitely had e-mail, but never used BITNET or ARPANet. I do recall sending e-mail to a crazy girl in maybe Tazmania that loved wombats, and it taking <a day turnaround (the girlfriend of a summer student in the lab).
You mention being on Usenet in 88 or 89, which was after "the great reorganization". I was on Usenet for a while before the reorg, so that'd cement the earlier end at 85-86. I definitely had e-mail, but never used BITNET or ARPANet. I do recall sending e-mail to a crazy girl in maybe Tazmania that loved wombats, and it taking <a day turnaround (the girlfriend of a summer student in the lab).