Zapmail history's

Zapmail!

Zapmail was a revolutionary email service that was launched in 1981 by John Sculley, who later became the CEO of Apple. Zapmail was one of the first commercial email services, allowing users to send and receive electronic mail over the internet.

Here's a brief history of Zapmail:

Early Days: Zapmail was founded in 1981 by John Sculley, who was then the CEO of Pepsi-Cola. Sculley saw the potential of email and decided to create a service that would allow people to send and receive electronic mail. The company was initially called "ZapMail Corporation" and was headquartered in Los Angeles.

First Commercial Email Service: Zapmail launched its service in 1981, making it one of the first commercial email services in the world. The service allowed users to send and receive email using a terminal or a personal computer connected to a modem.

How it Worked: Zapmail used a proprietary protocol called "Zapmail Protocol" to transmit email messages between users. The service used a hub-and-spoke architecture, where messages were stored on a central server and then transmitted to the recipient's terminal or computer.

Features: Zapmail offered several features that were innovative for its time, including:

• Email forwarding: Users could forward email messages to other Zapmail users.
• Email attachments: Users could attach files to their email messages.
• Email filtering: Zapmail offered a filtering system that allowed users to sort and prioritize their email messages.

Growth and Competition: Zapmail gained popularity in the early 1980s, with over 10,000 users by 1983. However, the service faced competition from other email services, such as CompuServe and Prodigy, which offered similar features and better connectivity.

Decline and Legacy: Zapmail's popularity declined in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the internet became more widely available and email services like America Online (AOL) and Hotmail emerged. Zapmail ceased operations in the mid-1990s.

Legacy: Zapmail played an important role in the development of email as we know it today. The service paved the way for later email services and helped to popularize the concept of electronic mail. John Sculley's vision for Zapmail also influenced the development of other email services, including Apple's own email service, which was launched in the 1990s.

Overall, Zapmail was an important milestone in the history of email, and its legacy can still be seen in the email services we use today.