VOA科学技术2024--Gmail Launched 20 Years Ago on April Fools’ Day

Gmail Launched 20 Years Ago on April Fools’ Day

　　When Google launched Gmail in 2004, it quickly grew into one of the internet's most popular email services.

　　At the time, though, many people thought the Gmail launch was a joke. This is because it was announced on April 1, April Fools' Day. And Google's co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had already established themselves as April Fools' Day pranksters.

　　One year, Google published a false job opening promising² job seekers a position at a research center on the moon. Another year on April Fools' Day, the company said it was considering adding a tool that would permit users to "smell" search results.

　　Page and Brin later said Gmail's launch was the perfect April Fools' Day prank¹. This is because they felt the new offerings, or features, might have seemed too good to be true for users.

　　Gmail launched as a free service. The new features included an increase in storage space up to 1 gigabyte per account. While that amount may not seem like a lot today, at the time, it was considered very large.

　　In 2004, for example, 1 gigabyte was enough to store about 13,500 emails. This compared to just 30 to 60 emails that could be saved with the then-leading email services run by Yahoo and Microsoft.

　　In addition, the new Gmail included Google's search technology. This permitted users to quickly find specific emails, photos or other data stored in the service. Gmail also introduced a feature that grouped multiple email communications about the same subjects.

　　Former Google executive³ Marissa Mayer spoke⁴ to The Associated Press (AP) about her involvement developing Gmail at the company. "The original pitch we put together was all about the three ‘S's," Mayer told the AP. She explained that the S's stood for "storage, search and speed." Mayer helped design several products at Google before leaving the company and later becoming Yahoo's chief executive.

　　When Gmail's launch happened in 2004, some readers began contacting the AP to suggest the news agency must have been fooled by Google's announcement. But that reaction by users was "part of the charm⁵" of making a product that people will not believe is real, said Paul Buchheit. He recently spoke to the AP about his efforts to help build Gmail.

　　Buchheit explained that the Gmail project was developed quietly at Google, which even gave the effort a secret name. He noted⁶ that at the time, he was just Google's 23rd employee hired. The company now employs more than 180,000 people.

　　Although the Gmail launch captured a lot of publicity⁷, it started out being offered only to a limited number of people. This is because at the time, Google only had enough computing⁸ power to support a small number of users.

　　"When we launched, we only had 300 machines and they were really old machines that no one else wanted," Buchheit told the AP. "We only had enough capacity for 10,000 users, which is a little absurd⁹," he added.

　　But the account limitations actually led to more interest in the service and persuaded large numbers of people to request new Gmail accounts. At one point, Buchheit said invitations to open a new account were selling for $250 each on eBay.

　　Over time, Google was able to increase the number of new Gmail accounts it established as it expanded its data centers. This move sped up the process of getting a new Gmail account. But the company did not begin approving all new Gmail requests until it officially opened up the service to the world in 2007.

　　A few weeks later on April Fool's Day in 2007, Google announced a new service called "Gmail Paper." The service was described as a way for users to print their email out on paper and send it through the regular mail. But this time, Google was actually joking.

　　Words in This Story

　　prankster – n. a person that plays a trick on someone else

　　pitch – v. to try to persuade something to do something

　　charm – n. a quality that makes a person like someone or something

　　capacity – n. the ability to do, experience of understand something

　　absurd – adj. very silly or outrageous

1 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

2 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 charm   

vt.使着迷，使陶醉；n.招人喜欢之处，魅力

参考例句：

• With all imperfections the short play has a real charm.尽管有不少缺欠，这出小戏仍颇具魅力。
• He could resist her charm no longer.他再也抗拒不住她的魅力。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

8 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

9 absurd   

adj.荒谬的，荒诞的，荒唐可笑的，不合理的

参考例句：

• It is ridiculously absurd to believe that the number 13 is unlucky.相信数字13是个不吉祥的数字是荒唐可笑的。
• It was absurd of you to do such a thing.你做那样的事是愚蠢的。