The Birth of Email

 In Blog

In 1971, Ray Tomlinson sent a message to another computer by specifying its user’s name and information particular to that machine, separated by an @ symbol.

The message said simply, and incoherently, “QWERTYUIOP.” It was a test, and Ray was unsentimental and practical. The act wasn’t about the words themselves. They were inconsequential. The idea was for Ray to satisfy his own curiosity.

A native of New York, Ray was an IT expert and the creator of operating systems and networks of his time, such as the ARPANET network—a precursor to the internet—that allowed him to send his test message and give birth to what we now know as email.

Within a year’s time, computers were used for remote login (people on a shared network logging in), to transfer files, to email. The exponential growth and capabilities of email were realized quickly; many people contributed to these ongoing improvements to code, the creation of electronic data and other innovations.

Ray wrote the code for his initial application in his place of employment, but on his own time. He wanted to give his idea a chance, and he changed online communication forever.

Email has since taken on a life of its own—changing everything from the way organizations do business to how human beings stay in touch. Email literally changed the world—making life on the job easier for many but stressing out the bottom line for other organizations, such as the U.S. Postal Service.

Email also laid the groundwork for the concept of social network messaging.

Some of Ray’s earliest concepts for email conventions used in the 70s are still in place today—use of the @ symbol, for instance, as well as the ability to reply to a message and to communicate with multiple parties simultaneously.

Ray, and email, changed the way we view computers. Before email, computers were machines designed for tasks, and some file transfers, but not for communications; messaging now is a key reason that people use computers.

According to statistics and extrapolations by Radicati Group, a company dedicated to email research, there were 205 billion emails sent every single day in 2015—that’s 2.4 million emails per second, or 74 trillion per year.

Ray passed away in March at 74. His ingenious idea and application will long live on as a memorial to him. Send an email today for Ray.

Meet the author, Evan Crimmins.

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