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Comment on Ask HN: Why did Gmail become popular?

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I remember it pretty well. The gigabyte of storage was a big deal at the time. It seemed like an impossible amount to provide for free at that point in computing history. It was also invite only at the time when that growth hack trick was a novelty, so there was a lot of exclusivity to reserve a great address at a time when all the common names were already taken at Hotmail. My first few invites felt pretty special to give out to friends. Finally, what made the account really stick after that first wave of signups was that the webmail experience was fast, modern and clean at a time when competitors felt distinctly 90’s.

Now my common name email address is a curse of unending spam.

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