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A
Paean to the Humble @ Sign. Often referred to as the “at”
symbol, the @ sign was more or less on its deathbed 35 years ago. We
learned to use it in elementary school as a basic element in a good
business letter, e.g.,
“Please send me 1,296 pencils @ $3.75 per gross.” The
@ was shorthand for “at the rate of,” and we felt smart for knowing how
to use it.
But alas, by the 1960s, the @ had fallen into disuse. And
while most typewriters continued to feature it - you had to use two
hands, and hit the “shift” and “2” keys simultaneously – nobody used it
all that much. Maybe we just stopped writing so many business letters,
or maybe the letters evolved. It was sad, but the @ just started to
feel, well, passé.
Enter one Ray Tomlinson, who some call the “father of
e-mail,” even if he didn’t exactly invent it. What he did do, in 1972,
was develop the software that permits messages to be sent between
computers. And in the process, he revived the nearly moribund symbol and
gave it a new lease on life as
the bridge between the "who" and the "where" in an
e-mail address.
America loves nothing so much as a good comeback story. Just
look at Richard Nixon, Chrysler (under Iacocca, anyway), the Amazing
Mets, Apple Computer and John Travolta. For my part, I’m delighted to be
using the "shift-2" combination once again. And as long
as there is e-mail in my inbox and spammers continue to slither on the earth,
it's likely to remain with us for many years to come.
Take a bow, Ray. And if anyone wants to send me an e-mail, just click your mouse on the huge @ sign above. No shift key needed. The @ is back! Long live the @!
©2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. Scott D. Seligman. All Rights Reserved. To contact me by e-mail, please click here.