tbolt

20 Years of Gmail

I don’t recall when I joined Gmail but my guess is summer 2004, shortly after it launched. I remember having to be relentless to get an invite. Looking back, I’m not sure why I felt such a strong need for one. I was a teenager and had no good use for email yet. I’m not even sure what I used for email before Gmail—probably AOL or Yahoo—but it didn’t matter, they were all garbage compared to Gmail.

Sometime around 2016 I started turning bearish towards Google. I stopped using Google Search and a number of other Google products. I also came pretty close to switching to FastMail. I never brought myself to do it, and I’m glad I didn’t switch. I like Gmail, and it’s always been a great service. I know there’s plenty of reasons why I shouldn’t use it, but to hell with those. Here’s to 20 more years.