SHALOM OLALEYE
In what appears like an April first joke in 2004, Google birthed its powerful communication tool; Gmail.
Today, Google is celebrating 20 years of Gmail. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, known for pranks, introduced the service with a storage capacity of up to eight billion bits per user.
Gmail revolutionized email storage, offering 13,500 emails per account, compared to 30-60 emails by competitors like Yahoo and Microsoft. It eliminated the need to file or delete messages, focusing on search, storage, and speed.
Inspired by a user’s frustration with existing email services, Gmail simplified email management. It was built on Google’s search technology, allowing keyword-based email searches and organizing messages into conversations for clarity.
Currently, Gmail boasts of 1.8 billion accounts with 15 gigabytes of storage each, influencing other services to offer more storage. Initially a limited preview, Gmail’s exclusivity drove demand, with sign-up invitations becoming coveted.
Despite initial scarcity, Gmail’s availability grew as Google’s data center network expanded, with full access granted in 2007. Gmail has since become a key Google service, far removed from its early days as a potential prank.