Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: E-Mail
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
Many technologies that we now take for granted were invented by specific individuals whose names appear frequently in computer general knowledge questions. Raymond Samuel Tomlinson is one such pioneer. He is closely associated with the early development of electronic mail, a service that transformed how people communicate across computer networks. This question tests whether you can link his name with the correct invention among several popular communication platforms.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
Raymond Tomlinson worked on ARPANET, an early packet switching network that preceded the modern internet. He is credited with implementing the first system to send mail between users on different hosts connected to ARPANET. He also chose the at sign (@) to separate the user name from the host name in email addresses, a convention that still exists today. SMS, Facebook, Orkut, and the World Wide Web all came later and were developed by different individuals or teams. Therefore, the correct approach is to connect Tomlinson's early work on networked communication with the invention of network email.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that Raymond Tomlinson is often called the father of email in many computer history articles.Step 2: Remember that he implemented the first program that allowed messages to be sent between computers on ARPANET.Step 3: Note that he introduced the use of the @ symbol in email addresses, which became a global standard.Step 4: Compare this with SMS, which is a text messaging service developed much later for mobile phones.Step 5: Recognise that Facebook and Orkut are social networking sites and were founded by other people in a different era.Step 6: Understand that the World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners Lee, not by Tomlinson.Step 7: Conclude that E Mail is the correct answer.
Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, think of how the history of email is described in general knowledge books. They often mention that early email systems existed on single machines, but Tomlinson created the first cross network email system. They also emphasise that the format user@host became popular because of his implementation. In contrast, histories of the World Wide Web consistently credit Tim Berners Lee, and accounts of Facebook and Orkut point to founders such as Mark Zuckerberg and Orkut Buyukkokten. These consistent attributions confirm that Tomlinson is associated with email, not with the other services.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
SMS (Short Message Service) is a mobile phone text messaging protocol, and its development involved different engineers and standards bodies, not Tomlinson. Facebook is a social networking platform created by Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues. Orkut was an early social network created by Orkut Buyukkokten, a Google employee. The World Wide Web, which links documents with URLs and web browsers, was invented by Tim Berners Lee. None of these achievements matches the key contribution of Raymond Tomlinson, which is the development of networked email.
Common Pitfalls:
Students may confuse various communication technologies and assume that all early internet services were invented by the same person. Another pitfall is mixing up the World Wide Web and email because they both run over the internet. It is important to remember that email predates the web and that web pages are a different layer of technology. Associating Tomlinson with the at sign in email addresses is a good memory aid to avoid choosing the wrong option.
Final Answer:
Raymond Samuel Tomlinson is famous for developing E Mail, including the use of the @ symbol in email addresses.
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