We all take certain thing so for granted as they are integrated deeply into our lives, email is such a thing. Raymond Tomlinson, widely credited as the inventor of modern email, died Saturday.
Raytheon Co., his employer, on Sunday confirmed his death. Email existed in a limited capacity before Tomlinson in that electronic messages could be shared amid multiple people within a limited framework. But until his invention in 1971 of the first network person-to-person email there was no way to send something to a specific person at a specific address.
Tomlinson chose the “@” (”at”) symbol to connect the username with the destination address and it has now become a cultural icon.
"It is with great sadness we acknowledge the passing of our colleague and friend, Ray Tomlinson. A true technology pioneer, Ray was the man who brought us email in the early days of networked computers.," Raytheon said in a statement. "His work changed the way the world communicates and yet, for all his accomplishments, he remained humble, kind and generous with his time and talents, He will be missed by one and all."
While he was a holder of numerous awards and other accolades, co-workers say he was modest. And, surprisingly, not a frequent checker of email.
According to a biography on the Internet Hall of Fame, Tomlinson was born in Amsterdam, New York in 1941. He attended college at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he participated in an internship program with IBM and received a degree in electrical engineering in 1963. He later earned a S.M. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Numerous admirers expressed their appreciation on social media. Gmail tweeted: Thank you, Ray Tomlinson, for inventing email and putting the @ sign on the map. #RIP.
Contributing: The Associated Press
