The Mighty Mail

Ray Tomlinson, the Internet pioneer has died aged 74. Although his invention is flawed, it has never been bettered.

16:44 08 March 2016

Ray Tomlinson, who has been widely regarded as the inventor of email, has died aged 74. He is credited with putting the now iconic @ sign in the addresses of the revolutionary systems.

 

While emails certainly improved the way we receive and send messages particularly those that are intended for people across the globe, many agree that the system is flawed.

 

Email became part of our everyday lives and we let it seep into our lives, instigating an anxiety we’d not yet encountered. We check email not just on our personal computers at work but also in our bedroom, our commutes and our toilet breaks due to the invention of smartphones. Anyone seems to have the need to be on top of emails that  makes us feel overwhelmed.

 

In 2014, a study took away email from 13 US government workers who later on enjoyed a decrease in their average heart rate. Meanwhile in France, there have been calls to enforce some kind of “digital work hour” restrictions because checking email after work equates to free labour.