Ever wondered why we use the @ sign for email addresses?
IT'S the most iconic symbol of the internet but where did the @ symbol come from and we do we use it?
The @ sign is the universal sign of electronic communication and has evolved on social media platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook to communicate directly to someone.
It was previously used in business to represent "at the rate of" until Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email, changed all of that back in 1971.
He was the first person to use "at" symbol when sending electronic messages while working as an engineer in Boston, USA, for research Boston based company Bolt Beranek and Newman.
Tomlinson chose to include the @ symbol in email addresses after looking for a character that would separate the user's name from the name of the computer.
In a 2012 interview with Wired, the computer genius explained his choice: "I looked at the keyboard, and I thought: What can I choose here that wont be confused with a username?
If every person had an @ sign in their name, it wouldnt work too well. But they didnt. They did use commas and slashes and brackets. Of the remaining three or four characters, the @ sign made the most sense. It denoted where the user was at. Excuse my English.
The internet pioneer, who was originally from Amsterdam, New York, died on March 5, aged 74.
Ever wondered why we use the @ sign for email addresses? Here's the reason
