Gmail was a great product because they doled out a GB of storage for free. Agreed that they introduced other features people liked.
As a user, you were faceless. I have a vague memory from the early Gmail days. I'm pretty sure they charged me $5 to contact support.
Customer focus includes more than having a good product, though having a good product is a component. The business model Google chose (it was a choice) for Gmail wasn't compatible with focusing on Google's customers.
That said, there were other good examples. I chose Gmail because I believe it was one of the best known products of the era.
As a user, you were faceless. I have a vague memory from the early Gmail days. I'm pretty sure they charged me $5 to contact support.
Customer focus includes more than having a good product, though having a good product is a component. The business model Google chose (it was a choice) for Gmail wasn't compatible with focusing on Google's customers.
That said, there were other good examples. I chose Gmail because I believe it was one of the best known products of the era.