Business

Gmail Revolutionized Email 20 Years Ago. People Thought It Was Google’s April Fool’s Day Joke

Published

2 months ago

2024-04-01

SAN FRANCISCO — Gmail Revolutionized Email 20 Years Ago. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, enjoyed conducting pranks so much that they began releasing absurd ideas every April Fool’s Day shortly after founding the company more than a quarter century ago. One year ago, Google advertised a job posting for a Copernicus research center on the moon. Another year, the corporation stated it intended to launch a “scratch and sniff” capability on its search engine.

The jokes were so persistently ridiculous that people learned to dismiss them as yet another example of Google’s mischief. That’s why, on April Fool’s Day, Page and Brin decided to reveal something no one could have predicted 20 years ago.

It was Gmail, a free service with 1 gigabyte of storage per account, which seems insignificant in an era of one-terabyte iPhones. However, it sounded like an absurd amount of email capacity back then, enough to hold approximately 13,500 emails before running out of space, compared to only 30 to 60 emails in the then-leading webmail services run by Yahoo and Microsoft. This translated to 250 to 500 times greater email storage space.

Aside from the quantum leap in storage, Gmail included Google’s search capability, allowing users to easily recover a nugget from an old email, photo, or other personal information saved on the site. It also automatically tied together a series of conversations about the same topic, making everything flow like a single discussion.

“The original pitch we put together was all about the three ‘S’s” — storage, search, and speed,” said former Google executive Marissa Mayer, who worked on Gmail and other firm products before becoming Yahoo’s CEO.

Gmail Revolutionized Email 20 Years Ago. People Thought It Was Google’s April Fool’s Day Joke

It was such a bizarre concept that, immediately after The Associated Press published a report about Gmail late on April Fool’s Day 2004, users began calling and writing the news agency to notify them that Google’s pranksters had deceived them.

“That was part of the appeal: creating a product that people won’t think is real. It transformed people’s conceptions of the types of applications that could be built within a web browser,” former Google engineer Paul Buchheit said in a recent AP interview about his work on Gmail.

It took three years to complete as part of the “Caribou” project, named after a running gag in the Dilbert comic strip. “There was something sort of absurd about the name Caribou, it just made me laugh,” said Buchheit, the company’s 23rd employee. Caribou presently employs over 180,000 people.

The Associated Press knew Google wasn’t joking about Gmail when an AP reporter was summoned from San Francisco to the company’s Mountain View, California, headquarters to witness something worth the trip.

After arriving at a still-developing corporate facility that would eventually become known as the “Googleplex,” the AP reporter was shown into a modest office where Page sat in front of his laptop computer, wearing a mischievous grin.

Page, who was only 31 years old then, went on to show off Gmail’s sleekly designed inbox and how rapidly it ran in Microsoft’s now-retired Explorer web browser. He pointed out that there was no delete button in the main control panel because it was unnecessary given Gmail’s large storage capacity and ease of search. “I think people will really enjoy this,” Page said.

As with so many other things, Page was correct. Gmail currently boasts an estimated 1.8 billion active accounts, each offering 15 gigabytes of free storage, Google Photos, and Google Drive. Even while that’s 15 times more storage than Gmail first provided, more is needed for many users, who rarely see the need to erase their accounts, as Google anticipated.

Gmail Revolutionized Email 20 Years Ago. People Thought It Was Google’s April Fool’s Day Joke

Google, Apple, and other corporations now profit from selling additional storage capacity in their data centers as a result of the digital hoarding of email, images, and other stuff. (Google charges between $30 and $250 per year for 200 gigabytes of storage and 5 terabytes). The existence of Gmail also explains why other free email services and internal email accounts used by people at work provide significantly more storage than was anticipated 20 years ago.

“We were trying to shift the way people had been thinking because people were working in this model of storage scarcity for so long that deleting became a default action,” Buchheit told me.

Gmail was a major changer in various ways, including serving as the first building stone in the growth of Google’s online empire outside its still-dominant search engine.

Following Gmail came Google Maps and Google Docs, which included word processing and spreadsheet apps. Then came the acquisition of video site YouTube, followed by the release of the Chrome browser and the Android operating system, which powers the majority of the world’s smartphones. With Gmail’s open objective to scan email content to better understand users’ interests, Google also made it clear that digital spying to sell more advertising would be part of its expanding ambitions.

Despite its instant popularity, Gmail began with a limited scope since Google only had adequate computational resources to accommodate a small number of users.

“When we launched, we only had 300 machines, and they were really old machines that no one else wanted,” Buchheit recalled, laughing. “We only had enough capacity for 10,000 users, which is a little absurd.”

Gmail Revolutionized Email 20 Years Ago. People Thought It Was Google’s April Fool’s Day Joke

However, the scarcity generated an air of exclusivity around Gmail, resulting in the intense desire for elusive invitations to sign up. Invitations to open a Gmail account used to sell for $250 each on eBay. “It became a bit like a social currency, where people would go, ‘Hey, I got a Gmail invite, you want one?'” Buchheit told me.

Although signing up for Gmail became easier as more of Google’s huge data centers went online, the business started accepting all new users when it opened the floodgates as a Valentine’s Day gift to the world in 2007.

A few weeks later, on April Fool’s Day 2007, Google announced a new tool called “Gmail Paper” that allows customers to have Google print off their email archive on “94% post-consumer organic soybean sputum” and then have it delivered to them via the Postal Service. Google was genuinely joking at the time.

Business

Facebook And Instagram Face Fresh EU Digital Scrutiny Over Child Safety Measures

Published

19 hours ago

2024-05-16

Kiara Grace

VOR News Image

LONDON — The European Union started new investigations into Facebook and Instagram on Thursday, alleging that they are failing to protect youngsters online, in contravention of the bloc’s rigorous digital standards for social media companies.

It’s the latest wave of investigation for parent business Meta Platforms under the 27-nation EU’s Digital Services Act, a broad set of regulations enacted last year to clean up online platforms and protect internet users.

AP – VOR News Image

Facebook And Instagram Face Fresh EU Digital Scrutiny Over Child Safety Measures

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, expressed worry that the algorithmic algorithms used by Facebook and Instagram to propose content such as movies and postings could “exploit the weaknesses and inexperience” of minors and encourage “addictive behavior.” It’s concerned that these methods would exacerbate the so-called “rabbit hole” effect, which drives consumers to more distressing content.

The commission is also investigating Meta’s use of age-verification technologies to prevent youngsters from accessing Facebook or Instagram or viewing inappropriate information. Users must be at least 13 years old to create an account on these networks. It also investigates whether the corporation complies with DSA regulations demanding high privacy, safety, and security for children.

“We want young people to have safe, age-appropriate experiences online and have spent a decade developing more than 50 tools and policies designed to protect them,” Meta stated earlier. “This is a challenge the whole industry is facing, and we look forward to sharing details of our work with the European Commission.”

VOR News Image

Facebook And Instagram Face Fresh EU Digital Scrutiny Over Child Safety Measures

The most recent DSA lawsuits center on child safety under the DSA, which mandates platforms to implement strict procedures to protect children. Earlier this year, the commission started two separate investigations into TikTok due to concerns about potential hazards to children.

“We are not convinced that Meta has done enough to comply with the DSA obligations — to mitigate the risks of negative effects on the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its platforms Facebook and Instagram,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton stated on social media.

The cases announced on Thursday are not the first for Facebook and Instagram. The DSA is already investigating them over worries that they are not doing enough to combat foreign disinformation ahead of the EU elections next month.

VOR news Image

Facebook And Instagram Face Fresh EU Digital Scrutiny Over Child Safety Measures

X, a social media platform, and AliExpress, an ecommerce site, are under investigation for violating EU regulations.

There is no timeframe for the investigations to conclude. Violations may result in fines of up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue.

SOURCE – (AP)

Business

Microsoft Asks Some Employees In China To Move To Other Countries

Published

19 hours ago

2024-05-16

Kiara Grace

CNN - VOR news Image

According to Chinese official media, Microsoft has asked at least 100 employees in China to consider migrating to other nations.

The reports come as tensions between Beijing and Washington deteriorate over technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and renewable energy.

Microsoft personnel, particularly involved in cloud computing, were recently offered opportunities to work in the United States, Australia, or Ireland, among other nations, according to a report published Wednesday by state-run media The Paper, citing an unnamed source.

VOR News Image

Microsoft Asks Some Employees In China To Move To Other Countries

According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has urged up to 800 employees, most Chinese engineers working on cloud computing and artificial intelligence, to consider relocating. Last year, the Journal reported, citing anonymous sources, that the Biden administration was planning to restrict Chinese corporations’ access to US cloud services.

CNN has contacted Microsoft for comment.

According to a statement from Microsoft (MSFT) that Reuters cited, the company was still committed to China and that giving some employees internal opportunities was part of its regular business.

The business first entered China in 1992, and for decades, it relied on its influential Beijing-based research lab, Microsoft Research Lab Asia, to gain influence.

“Everyone is confused,” an employee told the paper, noting that the impacted employees have less than a month to decide.

VOR News image

Microsoft Asks Some Employees In China To Move To Other Countries

Yicai, a Chinese state-owned financial media site, reported that over 100 staff were affected. It also said that residents had the option not to move.

The reports come the same week President Joe Biden proposed duties on $18 billion in Chinese electric vehicle imports and other products. Biden stated that he was working to prevent unfair competition from China and the US industry from being decimated.

The two economic superpowers have been at odds in the technological realm for years. In October, the Biden administration restricted the semiconductors that American companies may export to China.

In recent months, the United States has joined with its European and Asian partners to block China’s supplies of advanced chipmaking equipment.

VOR News Image

Microsoft Asks Some Employees In China To Move To Other Countries

Beijing has responded by setting its restrictions on shipments of germanium and gallium, two materials required for semiconductor manufacturing.

SOURCE – (CNN)

Business

Walmart’s Business Surges As Shoppers Hunt For Low Prices

Published

19 hours ago

2024-05-16

Kiara Grace

Businesses ranging from McDonald’s to Home Depot are battling to attract financially challenged customers. However, Walmart is expanding as customers seek low-cost groceries, necessities, and other items.

Walmart reported Thursday that sales at locations open for at least a year grew 3.8% over the previous year. The company upped its sales and profit guidance for the year, indicating that it expects growth to continue.

VOR News Image

Walmart’s Business Surges As Shoppers Hunt For Low Prices

According to retail analysts, the largest retailer in the United States has leveraged its size and purchasing power to keep prices lower than competitors despite rising inflation since the outbreak.

Groceries account for more than half of Walmart’s sales, and analysts at Evercore IRI say the company has profited from its pricing advantage, with prices that are approximately 25% lower than traditional supermarkets.

While low—and middle-income customers have traditionally made up the majority of Walmart’s customer base, the company has expanded to include people earning more than $100,000 per year. It stated that its growth last quarter was “primarily driven by upper-income households.”

Walmart is also seeing growth online. Its digital sales, which included in-store pickup and delivery, increased by 22% last quarter

VOR News Image

Walmart’s Business Surges As Shoppers Hunt For Low Prices

“Most Americans remain uncomfortable with food prices and are still actively looking for ways to keep their spending in check,” Neil Saunders, an analyst at GlobalData Retail, said in a note to clients Thursday. This has benefited “Walmart’s favor and has allowed the chain to continue to acquire new customers.”

Meanwhile, department stores, home improvement retailers, and other retail groups have suffered as buyers tighten their belts. Fast-food restaurants have also struggled.

Retail sales have declined overall in recent months.

The business stated this week that Home Depot’s sales at locations operating for at least a year declined 2.8% last quarter. McDonald’s reports that some lower-income Americans are eschewing the restaurant in favor of cooking at home.

VOR News Image

Walmart’s Business Surges As Shoppers Hunt For Low Prices

“It’s a challenging consumer environment,” said Ian Borden, McDonald’s CFO, stressing that many people are struggling with inflation, rising interest rates, and shrinking savings.

SOURCE – (CNN)