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October 24, 2005
Email turns 34
Looks like October 1971 was the date that the first electronic message was sent over a network in the form that is commonly referred to as Email. Oh, what a long and bumpy road it has been. Also reminds me that even thugh I have a shoebox of old computer punchcards in storage somewhere and a couple of cassette tapes with lots of beeps copied over a radio rip of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", I have not in fact been using a computer longer than God as some tactful Apple store employee once observed when I showed him a G3 laptop.
Paul Buchheit writes on the Google Blog about the anniversary and some thought about email in general. Interestingly enough they mirror my own thoughts about email a year ago.
I rely on email, a lot, but it just wasn't working for me. My email was a mess. Important messages were hopelessly buried, and conversations were a jumble; sometimes four different people would all reply to the same message with the same answer because they didn't notice the earlier replies. I couldn't always get to my email because it was stuck on one computer, and web interfaces were unbearably clunky. And I had spam. A lot of it.
Say what you want about Google. Whether you think they take privacy seriously enough, or care about Mac users, or are they truly Evil, but one thing I really appreciate about them is that they are serious innovators. See a problem, apply imagination, skill and hard work and see what happens.
I have to say I really like Gmail. Sure its not perfect. I havn't completely switched over to it. Maybe I never will. But I am constantly amazed with how Google continues to innovate new tools. I look forward to updates, and above all, Email doesn't completely piss me off anymore.
Thanks guys, and Happy Birthday!
Google Blog: Guess what just turned 34?
Posted by Kakyou at October 24, 2005 12:53 PM
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