20 years of Gmail

[Kyng]

https://www.theverge.com/24113616/gmail-...d-internet

When Gmail launched with a goofy press release 20 years ago next week, many assumed it was a hoax. The service promised a gargantuan 1 gigabyte of storage, an excessive quantity in an era of 15-megabyte inboxes. It claimed to be completely free at a time when many inboxes were paid. And then there was the date: the service was announced on April Fools’ Day, portending some kind of prank.

But soon, invites to Gmail’s very real beta started going out — and they became a must-have for a certain kind of in-the-know tech fan. At my nerdy high school, having one was your fastest ticket to the cool kids’ table. I remember trying to track one down for myself. I didn’t know whether I actually needed Gmail, just that all my classmates said Gmail would change my life forever.

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Yeah, I think a lot of us assumed that it was an April Fools joke - but I'm glad it wasn't!

Happy 20th anniversary to Gmail. Who here uses it?

[Megan]

Huh I never knew that. Kinda funny.

I pretty much have used it forever. My usual go to email for most stuff.

[kikipetie]

I tried others and always go back to gmail.  I don't have an explanation----just do

[SpookyZalost]

*Raises hand*
I got mine back in the mid 2000's when I was still in middle school and it was still in Beta.  That was around the time I actually chose SpookyZalost.  Because I wanted something different that didn't have numbers on it.  Hard to believe that's been my handle for almost 20 years now.

Of course I don't remember exactly when I got it but it was a couple years before it left beta so let's say 2006/2007?

Gmail says 2012 but I know that's not correct because I remember applying for the closed semi-public system and getting access not long after that.  More than likely Google can't show farther back than that for some reason or another.  I'll have to go dig up my AOL email and see if it still exists to find the welcome email.

Edit:  Nope.  seems like that's been consigned to digital oblivion.  ah well I haven't used it in at least 15 years so that was probably inevitable.

[Kyng]

*Raises hand*
I got mine back in the mid 2000's when I was still in middle school and it was still in Beta.  That was around the time I actually chose SpookyZalost.  Because I wanted something different that didn't have numbers on it.  Hard to believe that's been my handle for almost 20 years now.

Of course I don't remember exactly when I got it but it was a couple years before it left beta so let's say 2006/2007?

Gmail says 2012 but I know that's not correct because I remember applying for the closed semi-public system and getting access not long after that.  More than likely Google can't show farther back than that for some reason or another.  I'll have to go dig up my AOL email and see if it still exists to find the welcome email.

Edit:  Nope.  seems like that's been consigned to digital oblivion.  ah well I haven't used it in at least 15 years so that was probably inevitable.

Well, I certainly haven't had mine for as long as that .

I don't recall exactly when I got it, but I know I had it by 2013 at the latest.

[~ True Legend ~]

@ SpookyZalost you’re one of the rare ones who actually managed to have a unique email without needing the use numbers

Just put of curiosity, do you use spookyzalost in your email for professional purposes e.g. seeking employment etc ?

[SpookyZalost]

@ SpookyZalost you’re one of the rare ones who actually managed to have a unique email without needing the use numbers

Just put of curiosity, do you use spookyzalost in your email for professional purposes e.g. seeking employment etc ?

Sure do.  But then I don't do anything online with that handle worth worrying about.  My personal social media presence is all but non-existent.  and a google search just brings up videos of me building stuff or my website where I talk about building stuff, or my linkedin profile which lists my resume.

[~ True Legend ~]

@ SpookyZalost you’re one of the rare ones who actually managed to have a unique email without needing the use numbers

Just put of curiosity, do you use spookyzalost in your email for professional purposes e.g. seeking employment etc ?

Sure do.  But then I don't do anything online with that handle worth worrying about.  My personal social media presence is all but non-existent.  and a google search just brings up videos of me building stuff or my website where I talk about building stuff, or my linkedin profile which lists my resume.

Of course everyone has a different view but I’ve always been advised that using nicknames completely unrelated to your real life identity looks unprofessional? What’s your experience?

[SpookyZalost]

@ SpookyZalost you’re one of the rare ones who actually managed to have a unique email without needing the use numbers

Just put of curiosity, do you use spookyzalost in your email for professional purposes e.g. seeking employment etc ?

Sure do.  But then I don't do anything online with that handle worth worrying about.  My personal social media presence is all but non-existent.  and a google search just brings up videos of me building stuff or my website where I talk about building stuff, or my linkedin profile which lists my resume.

Of course everyone has a different view but I’ve always been advised that using nicknames completely unrelated to your real life identity looks unprofessional? What’s your experience?

I like to keep my real name sorta under wraps.  Even IRL my friends generally call me Zalost.  However I've never had an issue with it.

[~ True Legend ~]

Sure do.  But then I don't do anything online with that handle worth worrying about.  My personal social media presence is all but non-existent.  and a google search just brings up videos of me building stuff or my website where I talk about building stuff, or my linkedin profile which lists my resume.

Of course everyone has a different view but I’ve always been advised that using nicknames completely unrelated to your real life identity looks unprofessional? What’s your experience?

I like to keep my real name sorta under wraps.  Even IRL my friends generally call me Zalost.  However I've never had an issue with it.

Ah well, let the haters hate and ppl have their biases. You do you ☺️💪