The history of the first scrap email in history and the origin of the term spam

Almost 50 years after his birth, he spam Keep hindering us. The first of its kind was sent on May 3, 1978 and reached 393 users of a network that was too far from the current figures. To remember the Har -mail anniversaryin this note of TN Tecno We will review the details of that inaugural shipment, the origin of the term “spam” and the wrong prediction of one of the most reputed gurús of technology, which promised to end those unwanted contents and never succeeded.

This was the first spam in history

The protagonist behind the First scrap email He is little known to the great audiences: Gary Thuerk. The technology history books reveal that this man was responsible for marketing of the Digital Equipment Corporation, and that he sent the mail not requested to third parties to promote computer products from that company, in that distant May 1978. He did it from Arpanet, the Internet precursor network.

A finding of interest: in the description of your profile on the social network LinkedIn, Thuerk indicates: “Conference and consultant. Father of e-marketing”.

What was the revolutionary nature of that shipment? What now seems simple and current – keeping the same email to many contacts simultaneously – at that time it was unpublished: the emails were sent separately, to each sender. Thus, mass shipments were born, in that case with an invitation for an event that was held in California, United States, where a device called Decsystem 2020 was presented.

Read too: How to block the so -called spam and avoid scams, according to a telemarketer

“Many got angry upon receiving that unre requested message, because mail addresses were not hidden and exposed their data on the network. This fact almost cost Thuerk employment, but the campaign ended up being a sales success, ”says the publication 20 minutes.

The origin of the spam term and its little known link with the sausages

For an email to be considered as spam, it must meet the following characteristics:

• It is a shipment massivewhich reaches many senders.
• It is a communication not requested: It is far from being an answer.
• In many cases, it is anonymous.
• It is usually rentable For those who send them.
• In addition to having advertising purposes, in some cases they are used for propaganda and even for the distribution of malicious programs.

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In certain cases, the limits are diffuse. For example, a newsletter can be sent to many senders who did not necessarily request it, although it can be of interest.

That said, What is the origin of the term “spam”? While now associated with junk emails, it was not always the case. Strictly speaking, it is an acronym for words in English “spiced” y “ham”, That the American company Hormel Foods Corporation began using in 1937 to sell Condicated ham.

It was actually chopped sausages marketed with name spamthat American consumers refused to buy for being uninferable. According to the chronicles, that firm launched a campaign to avoid losses with its product, sending them to the soldiers of the United States Army and Navy, which fed on those canned.

In addition to the commercial route, spam became synonymous with something unpleasant, although inevitable. How did you associate with unwanted emails? This happened thanks to the British comedy series Monty Python Flying Circuswhere they linked that food to a dialogue that no one requested. Then, in the 90’s, the word spam was used for the first time to describe the junk emails.

More than 20 years ago, Bill Gates promised to annihilate spam

As we point out above this review, the scrap metal continues to hinder us. This, beyond the tools, filters and other collars They try to stop them before they reach the entrance tray.

Read too: Neither reject nor block the number: the answer to avoid calls spam

The very Bill Gates —Guru de la Technology, founder of Microsoft and creator of solutions such as Windows and Outlook – more than two decades ago predicted that spam’s problem would be solved In a short time.

That optimism expressed it in the Davos World Economic Forum, in 2004. On the occasion, Gates proposed some alternatives to stop spamincluding a system that would require the payment of a rate for each shipment that is not family, friends or work environments.

“Within two years, this will be solved and the monetary method will be the dominant,” he said. We already know the end: the scrap continues to get. Statistics confirm it: according to Kaspersky, in 2024 More than 47% of emails were spam.