The Beginning of Gmail

Gmail was announced on April 1st, 2004. I was fortunate to receive an invitation to be part of the initial beta phase and I officially started my Gmail account on June 22, 2004.

I was able to set up accounts for my family at the time except for my youngest son. He was so young that he was not yet on a computer and it did not seem relevant. Years later he had to create his Gmail account by substituting a letter with a number. Someone with his name had already taken a Gmail account.

Over the years, several Richard Cleavers have tried to get a Gmail account. For whatever reason, some Richard Cleavers use my email address to register for services and I receive emails from Mercedes-Benz dealers in Utah, bills from Atlantic Broadband somewhere in the United States and travel agencies in Europe as well as from many other companies I do not know. I even had a lengthy argument with one person who kept sending me all sorts of personal updates about their family. It took several tries to convince them that I was not the Richard Cleaver they thought I was. They still send me emails.

It is almost impossible to get companies to change incorrect email addresses.

14 years later, and Gmail is my primary email address. We have changed physical addresses three times since 2004. I would hate to try and change my email address. Not impossible to do I suppose. Just unimaginable. My email address is literally everywhere in my online world.

Gmail for life.