(PCM) Although you may not know him by name, Raymond Tomlinson’s invention is something just about all of use frequently each and everyday. Sadly, Tomlinson, who is credited as the inventor of email and founder of using the @ sign in digital communications, has passed away at the age of 74. While his cause of death at this time is speculated multiple sources are reporting that Tomlinson died as a result of a heart attack.
According to Tomlinson’s official biography in the Internet Hall Of Fame states ““In 1971 Tomlinson developed ARPNET’s first application for network email by combining the SNDMSG and CPYNET programs, allowing messages to be sent to users on other computers. He chose the @ sign to separate local from global emails in the mailing address. Person to person network email was born and user@host became the standard for email addresses, as it remains today.”
Thanks so Tomlinson, the use of the “@” symbol has reached even further than just use in email, as it is heavily used on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram as a way to send direct messages and communication to other users. Tomlinson is also credited with pushing for the “Subject” and “From” fields in email as well.
Our sincere condolences go out to Tomlinson’s family and friends during this difficult time.