Harden Elkington
The invention of email, like so many technological advancements, has several fathers and mothers. But one claimant to the title of “inventor” of email has spent years trying to elbow everyone else out of the way. And now he’s filed a libel lawsuit that might damage one news organization that has covered his campaign diligently, and critically.
Who invented email?
Ray Tomlinson is widely credited with inventing email in the early 1970s. He was working on a project for the U.S. Department of Defense’s ARPANET, the military-academic precursor to the internet when he sent the first message from one computer to another using the “@” sign to separate the user name from the destination address.
Tomlinson told the BBC in a 2000 interview that he chose the “@” for its “at” meaning, which was “appropriate for electronic mail.”
But Tomlinson is not the only one with a claim to email’s invention.
In 2012, computer historian David Crocker wrote a blog post in which he said that the first email system was actually created in 1965 by MIT researcher Tom van Vleck and others.
Crocker’s claim is backed up by a paper van Vleck wrote about the project.
However, Tomlinson has spent years trying to get credit for inventing email and in 2017 he filed a libel lawsuit against Gizmodo Media Group, the media company that owns Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, and several other sites.
In the lawsuit, Tomlinson claims that a 2012 article on Gawker-owned site Valleywag falsely accused him of plagiarism and claimed that he “stole” the “@” symbol from van Vleck.
History of email timeline
- 1965 – Tom van Vleck and others create the first email system
- 1972 – Ray Tomlinson invents email using the “@” symbol
- 1978 – Shiva Ayyadurai writes a computer program called “EMAIL” for his high school biology project
- 1981 – The first email is sent from one computer to another
- 1984 – The first email is sent over the internet
- 1995 – Microsoft Outlook is released
- 1997 – Hotmail, the first web-based email service, is launched
- 1998 – Google launches Gmail
- 2001 – BlackBerry launches its first email-enabled device
- 2006 – Twitter launches
- 2012 – Tomlinson files a libel lawsuit against Gizmodo Media Group
- 2013 – Ayyadurai files a $15 million lawsuit against Gawker Media
- 2016 – Ayyadurai is accused of “Rewriting history” by Slate
- 2018 – Ayyadurai launches a website called InventorOfEmail.com
The invention of email has been credited to several different people over the years, but the most widely accepted story is that it was invented by Ray Tomlinson in the early 1970s.
However, there is another man who has spent years trying to get credit for inventing email, and that is Shiva Ayyadurai.
Did Shiva Ayyadurai invent email?
In the late 1970s, a 14-year-old Shiva Ayyadurai wrote a computer program that he called “EMAIL” for his high school biology project.
Ayyadurai has claimed ever since that he is the inventor of email and in 2013 he filed a $15 million lawsuit against Gawker Media for calling him a “liar” and a “fraud” in an article about his claim.
Ayyadurai’s lawsuit was later dismissed, but he has continued to campaign for recognition as the inventor of email. In 2018, he even launched a website called InventorOfEmail.com, which features a timeline of the history of email that credits him as the sole inventor.
Ayyadurai has also been criticized for his claim to have invented email. In a 2016 article for Slate, Will Oremus called Ayyadurai a “charlatan” and accused him of “Rewriting history to suit his ego.”
History of email spam?
Email spam, also known as junk email, is a type of electronic spam where unsolicited messages are sent by email. Most of the time, these messages are sent for commercial purposes, but they can also be sent for malicious reasons such as phishing or spreading malware.
Spam emails first became a problem in the late 1990s when internet users started receiving large amounts of unsolicited messages.
In 2003, the CAN-SPAM Act was passed in the United States in an attempt to regulate spam emails. However, the act has been largely ineffective and spam emails continue to be a problem today.
The most common way to avoid spam emails is to use an email filter, which is a program or service that automatically deletes or filters out spam emails from your inbox.
You can also install anti-spam software on your computer or use a spam blocker extension for your web browser.
- Related Post: The History Of How Web Invented – The Birth Of World Wide Web
- Related Post: The history of how the telegraph was invented
What purpose does email serve?
Email is used for a variety of purposes, from sending simple messages to colleagues to communicating with customers or clients.
Email can also be used to send files or documents, and many businesses use email as a way to keep track of their orders and transactions.
Some people also use email as a way to store information, for example by creating folders and sorting their messages into categories. T
his can be helpful for keeping track of important information or for saving time when looking for a particular message.
Email is also a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, and many people use it as a way to keep up with current events or to share news and information.
The bottom line
Email is a complex system with many different uses. While it is most commonly used for simple communication, it can also be used for more complex purposes such as business transactions or storing information.
Email spam is a problem that has been around since the early days of email, but there are ways to avoid it, such as using an email filter or anti-spam software.
Email is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, and it can be used for a variety of purposes. However, spam emails can be a nuisance. The best way to avoid them is to use an email filter or anti-spam software.
