Gmail is an aggressive free email service that has been tested for quite some time by Google. To date, the only way to get a Gmail address is to be invited by another user. When we were first invited to join, we were given seven invitations. Interesting, because the spread of Gmail is similarly like the game six degrees of Kevin Bacon, where players try to figure out how one actor/actress played in a movie with another who played in another with a different actor and within six steps have reached a movie in which Kevin Bacon appeared. If I have only seven invitations, and I give them out, how long before every web user has one? What makes it more interesting is that every time you use one, you get another soon. Now, they have increase the number of available invites to FIFTY and they continue to replenish.

So what does this mean? It means if you want one, you got one, just use our contact form and we will get one out to you. And some think it means a move towards taking the experiment out of the beta phase and into production. Maybe. The concept is simple, give lots and lots of storage, allow you to search your email easily (have you ever wondered which of your various accounts you used for something and had to go looking? I have), and bring you relevant advertisements which are not overly obtrusive. I hope it is financially viable for them because it works quite well.

This article was posted on Sunday, March 6th, 2005 at 2:17 pm