Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of the email, died

Pioneer of the Internet, the American engineer sent the first computer electronic message to computer in 1971, using in particular the now omnipresent @.

The legend will remember that the very first email was "probably" only the succession of the first letters on the American keyboard "Qwertyuiop" in 1971.And that the second electronic message never sent was summarized as this by its inventor, Ray Tomlinson, died on Saturday March 5, 2016: "I sent a message to my research group, explaining how to send messages to the network.The first use of an email network announced its own existence.»»

The American died at the age of 74, 45 years after the invention that revolutionized the computer landscape.In the early 1970s, Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, engineer trained at the Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy (New York), at IBM and then MIT, joined the Arpanet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) program, a team that invented the beginnings of the Internet Internet, allowing in particular the data transfer of one computer connected to one network to another.

C’est Tomlinson qui a l'idée d'associer et d'améliorer deux logiciels existants : SNDMSG (pour « send message»»), qui sert à laisser des messages à un autre utilisateur d'un même ordinateur, et CPYNET, qui permet de transférer un fichier entre deux ordinateur en réseau. Pour permettre d’envoyer et de recevoir ces « mails»», Tomlinson crée la première adresse électronique grâce à l’arobase, le @, prononcé « at»» (« chez»») en anglais.

The acronym, already used during the Renaissance by the merchants, present on the keyboards of the typewriters and the first computers but fell into disuse, had the advantage of being used in any word (in any case, before the cyberc@fair from the 1990s do not grasp it).

"I am often asked why I chose this sign, but it was completely logical," explained his resuscitator on his personal site.The purpose of this sign was to indicate a unit price [for example, 10 articles @ 1.95 dollars].I used it to indicate that the user was "at" ["at" in English] another host and not located locally.»» L’adresse en forme d’utilisateur@hôte était née.

It was not until the 2000s that Ray Tomlinson, remained humble engineer, was rewarded by various prizes: the prestigious George Stibitz Prize, awarded to researchers who have made major advances in the field of IT and communications in2000, a webby Award from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in 2001, the Prince of Asturias Prize, more prestigious Spanish reward, in 2009.Ultimate recognition of his peers, put him in the fourth class of his record of the hundred and fifty largest inventions and ideas, while the Internet Hall of Fame welcomed him in the category of innovators in 2012.Recognition of the public who does not necessarily know his name: he echoes@nge about 200 milli@rds of e-m@they p@r.