It’s funny how something as simple as a product can become so entrenched in our life that we can’t imagine how we ever lived without it. I remember that I used to use Yahoo mail. I remember using Hotmail years ago. I even remember having the covetted rayhollister at aol.com email address (back when everyone assumed that all email addressses ended with @aol.com)

Today when I logged into my Gmail account, I noticed that they were letting everyone know that it was the day after Gmail’s 5th birthday. (Gmail was launched on April 1, but as you may know, Google loves April fools day.)

I had to think about it for a minute and remember a time before tagging, when I had to sort my emails into folders if I ever expected to find them again. Back when I used three different programs to chat with people. Back when video chatting was still some futuristic possibility.

It gave me a cold shiver.

Happy Birthday Gmail. It’s been a better Internet since you came into the world. (Even with that big goof up back in February!)

By the way, everyone that I know of that is on Gmail is on Gmail because I invited them way back when! 🙂 You all can thank me.

In retrospect, I wish I had been smart enough to sell off the invitations!