Ray Tomlinson

http://flic.kr/p/86P7Yw Forty years ago, engineer Ray Tomlinson sent the first electronic mail message.  No one remembers now what the message said, only that it was short and difficult to compose.  But whatever it said, it changed the communications picture forever. When he showed his work to a colleague, he was told firmly, “Don’t go telling anyone! That’s not what we’re supposed to be doing.”   Tomlinson never profited from his pioneering work, but his story of the creation of email, and how he came to use the “@” symbol to direct messages between networks, is fascinating and available online here.   Here are Read More