History of Computers - Email

Page created by Michael Bloom

Introduction

Email is an invention that is central in many peoples lives however is often overlooked for its importance despite the impact that email has made on billions of people.

Overview

Email or electronic mail is a method of leaving information from one source (e.g. computer) in another. With the advent of networked computers there arose the possibility and capability to send messages across computers, a feat unfeasible before. The first big network of computers was ARPANET, a military created network whose purpose was to be able to quickly exchange data between locations. ARPANET was the precursor to the modern internet and it was upon this network that the first email was sent.

Although one could consider any electronic message, such as the telegraph, an email, the first email sent that bore resemblance to the modern form of email was sent by Ray Tomlinson in 1971. Ray Tomlinson was a computer engineer contracted to work on ARPANET, and he was the first to send a message from one computer to another over a network. Ray Tomlinson was also the person who designated the use of the "@" sign as a way to identify where the email was going. The way to designate where the email was going was (name of user)@(name of computer). Tomlinson in 1971 was messing around with the program "SNDMSG" which only sent messages locally to the same computer. Tomlinson then combined SNDMSG with another experimental program CYPNET, which was used to send files between computers, and sent the first email message, using the @ sign to designate where the message was going. His email address was ray@home, and the email he sent to himself was "qwertyuiop".  

After Tomlinson, the progress relating to email picked up tremendously with new programs being created that helped organize emails and others to help make the emailing process more accessible. By 1976 email hand expanded a lot accounting for 75% of all traffic on ARPANET. 

Sadly this great man passed away recently in 2016. RIP.

Significance

Although created in the 70's, email still remains one of the most used applications on the internet. As of 2011, 3.146 Billion emails addresses were registered with 294 billion emails sent per day, indicating that email has remained relevant to the world, although most of the emails are spam. Email has revolutionized how written messages are sent. This year, 2015, it is estimated that 73% of businesses agree that using email is an essential part of their business. Before email, the only way to send a text message was a letter which took a long time to reach the target. Email is instant, costs less, and easier to send. Email is used today in business and recreational settings, connecting people in ways that were unimaginable before its invention.

References

http://mashable.com/2012/09/20/evolution-email/

External Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email