Internet legend Ray Tomlinson, credited as the inventor of email, died aged 74.
Tomlinson died from a suspected heart attack Saturday, March 5 morning, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Tomlinson, an American computer software developer, implemented the first email system, a device- to-device message sending process, at Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (BBN) company. It was part of the US department of defense funded program Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) system in 1971, which later evolved into the Internet that we know today.
He is also credited with developing protocols for creating email ID, the most prominent is the "@ aka at", which links the user name to the host server to create a unique address. Other email standards introduced by him include "From," "Subject" and the date field, which are still in use today.
For his revolutionary contribution in the field of information technology, Internet Society inducted Tomlinson in to the "Internet Hall of Fame" in 2012.
"Our deepest condolences to his family on the passing of Ray Tomlinson. #internetpioneer #emailpioneer,"InternetHallofFame (â€@Internet_HOF) tweeted.
Google's Gmail team too condoled Tomlinson's passing.
"Thank you, Ray Tomlinson, for inventing email and putting the @ sign on the map. #RIP", Gmail (@gmail) tweeted.
