Man who invented email and made the @ sign popular dies aged 74

Ray Tomlinson, 74 , passed away on Saturday after suffering a heart attack, according to reports. He came up with the idea that electronic messages could be sent between computers. In 1971, he sent the first ever email. At the time he was working in Boston as an engineer for research company Bolt, Beranek and Newman.

The official Gmail Twitter account was one of the first to pay tribute to Tomlinson. A member of their social media team wrote:

‘Thank you, Ray Tomlinson, for inventing email and putting the @ sign on the map,’

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.

While he was a holder of numerous awards and other accolades, co-workers say he was humble and modest. And, surprisingly, not a frequent checker of email. Raytheon Co., his employer, on Sunday confirmed his death; the details were not immediately available.
In an interview with The Verge in 2012, he said: ‘I see email being used, by and large, exactly the way I envisioned. In particular, it’s not strictly a work tool or strictly a personal thing.
‘Everybody uses it in different ways, but they use it in a way they find works for them.’