TECH - Google Marks 20th Anniversary Of Gmail Launch: Many Thought It Was An April Fools' Prank By Co-founders Larry Page And Sergey Brin | Benzinga
On Monday, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Gmail completed 20 years. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin introduced Gmail on April Fool’s Day. Initially dismissed as a prank, the service went on to revolutionize the digital world.
What Happened: Gmail’s launch was initially met with skepticism as Page and Brin were known for pulling pranks. So when they introduced Gmail on April Fool’s Day, a free service offering 1 gigabyte of storage per account. it was initially passed off as another prank.
Gmail was a massive leap from the 30 to 60 emails that could be stored by other leading webmail services at the time. Gmail also incorporated Google’s search technology, enabling users to swiftly retrieve information from old emails.
"That was part of the charm, making a product that people won't believe is real. It kind of changed people's perceptions about the kinds of applications that were possible within a web browser," former Google engineer Paul Buchheit recalled, according to ...