Ray Tomlinson

Raymond Samuel Tomlinson ( born 1941 in Amsterdam, New York) is considered the inventor of the e -mail.

Life

Tomlinson studied electrical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and then at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During his studies he began in 1960 to write computer programs.

After studying Tomlinson worked as a computer technician at Bolt Beranek and Newman ( BBN ) in Cambridge (Massachusetts ), a private research company, from the U.S. Department of Defense awarded the contract in 1968, the Arpanet - the predecessor of the Internet - build.

At the beginning it CPYNET, a protocol that could transfer files between connected computer systems. It should be extended so that messages can be transmitted. Tomlinson made ​​use of this SNDMSG program that was designed only for local use and created so-called Mailboxes that were really nothing more than files. He combined SNDMSG and CPYNET to its own program. To distinguish between the addressee and the computer, Tomlinson chose as unique separator the @ sign, as this was not used in the written language.

While Tomlinson developed its e -mail system, the current benefit of anyone is recognized, his work was seen more as a gimmick. As Tomlinson his system demonstrated a colleague who noticed this:

" Do not tell anyone! This is not what we're Supposed to be working on. "

" Tell that to anyone! This is not what we are supposed to work. "

1971 Tomlinson presented his staff the program and sent the first e -mail. Its exact content is unknown; Tomlinson can only remember that he is among other things the use of the @ symbol explained. 2009 Tomlinson got together with Martin Cooper the Prince of Asturias Award in the category of science and research.

On the development of the e- mail Tomlinson was no longer involved.