Re:WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update
by godelski on Monday January 25, 2021 @03:56AM
(#25901003)
> It was popular when Microsoft bought hotmail
I'm sorry, but is Hotmail not a large centralized player?
Re:WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update
by r_sreeram on Monday January 25, 2021 @05:24PM
(#25909788)
I think the GP was saying that email was already popular before Hotmail entered the picture. I agree with the claim that it didn't need centralized players to become popular.
Re:WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update
by godelski on Monday January 25, 2021 @07:53PM
(#25911077)
I don't think this is accurate though. I wouldn't call the internet popular when it was just nerds on it. At least not in the context of what we're discussing (communication clients). That's not popular until the masses join. It is clear that the masses did not join until there were large centralized services like AOL, Netscape, Yahoo, and Hotmail that provided email services. I am fundamentally disagreeing with the premise that email became popular before large centralized players provided the services.
What? Email was massively popular before gmail even got into the game. It was popular when Microsoft bought hotmail. It was so popular I remember a dial-up ISP (Juno) offering a free email-only dial-up account.
Email was one of the only easy to convey selling points for early Internet.
Online shopping was a shitty Wild West and most web pages consisted of some basic info and a visitor counter. But being able to send a “love letter” across the country in seconds was amazing!