Father of email Ray Tomlinson dies. Twitter inbox overflows
Ray Tomlinson, considered to be the father of email, has died, according to his employer, Raytheon Company. He was 74.
"A true technology pioneer, Ray was the man who brought us email in the early days of networked computers," Raytheon spokesman Mike Doble said in a statement.
Doble said Tomlinson died on Saturday morning but he did not know if he was at home and did not have a confirmed cause of death. Tomlinson worked in the company's Cambridge, Massachusetts, office.
An article in the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Tomlinson had died of a suspected heart attack.
Read more here.
Twitter reactions
RIP Ray Tomlinson, inventor of email.Please forward all email to his new address at RayT@afterlife.web
— Steven Williams (@Boogie2988) March 7, 2016
Thank you, Ray Tomlinson, for inventing email and putting the @ sign on the map. #RIP
— Gmail (@gmail) March 6, 2016
RIP Ray Tomlinson, thanks for something called the Email, which has revolutionized communication as we know it.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@ScorpiusMaximus) March 7, 2016
PO'd! Ray Tomlinson WRONGLY credited 4 email whn EVERY1 honest knos Shiva Ayyadurai @va_shiva invented, has copyright &is a victim of racism
— Fran Drescher (@frandrescher) March 6, 2016
The world lost the father of email over the weekend. Vale, Ray Tomlinson. ?? Thank you for … https://t.co/cHHxzQwBPU pic.twitter.com/zuoa9qstmz
— ScienceAlert (@ScienceAlert) March 6, 2016
RIP You can delete Ray Tomlinson from your address book tonight. The inventor of email died today at 74. via CNN
— Andrew Malcolm (@AHMalcolm) March 7, 2016
Wearing my ancient (22+ yrs) O'Reilly Nutshell Sendmail t-shirt today in honor of Ray Tomlinson. #RIP @timoreilly pic.twitter.com/wM7HRlrECE
— Ben Hollingsworth (@PrairieRimBen) March 7, 2016
E-mail inventor Ray Tomlinson, who popularized @ symbol, dies at 74 https://t.co/CFptFALTsQ pic.twitter.com/orVIxBJTKS
— Dell Software (@DellSoftware) March 7, 2016