In the early days, email was filed into folders like papers in a cabinet. But in the 2000s, the wind shifted

In the early days, email was filed into folders like papers in a cabinet. But in the 2000s, the wind shifted. The prologue was Opera M2’s “virtual folders”: set conditions, and scattered letters line up automatically—an experience that planted the idea of “search and gather.” The decisive turn came with Gmail in 2004. By pairing large storage and fast search with labels and archive, Gmail switched the question from “Where do I store this?” to “How will I rediscover it?” The same message could be summoned under many faces—project, person, deadline—while conversation view preserved context. Even the weakness of label sprawl could be eased with a minimal set and standard search patterns. From “storage” to “discovery,” Gmail quietly rewrote the common sense of email.