Slopfest #45 · 1971 · Vienna
QWERTYUIOP
The first email probably said QWERTYUIOP. Its sender couldn't remember. That's the right amount of care.
Museum status: Currently touring. Nobody knows where.
- Venue
- Postsparkasse, Otto Wagner's banking hall
- Attendance
- 1,780
- Guest of honour
- Ray Tomlinson (could not remember what his first email said either)
- Fun fact
- 2,000 messages sent, 1 read
What happened
Guests sent each other messages through the building's pneumatic tubes, which the committee had not asked permission to use. The first message read 'QWERTYUIOP'. The second read 'Who is this?' The next 2,000 were chain letters. Ray Tomlinson, guest of honor, was asked what his own first email said and could not remember either.
Elsewhere in 1971
Ray Tomlinson sends the first email between networked computers, using the @ sign. He later guessed it said 'QWERTYUIOP'.
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