Editing Webmail (section)

=== Early implementations ===

The first Web Mail implementation was developed at [[CERN]] in 1993 by [[Phillip Hallam-Baker]]<ref>{{cite newsgroup |last=Hallam-Baker |first=Phillip |author-link=Phillip Hallam-Baker |date=1994-03-09 |df=mdy |title=Announcing alpha test of PTG MAIL-DAEMON server |url=https://groups.google.com/g/comp.archives/c/vpWqUAmg8xU/m/B8bHirYC7EUJ|access-date=2022-03-22 |newsgroup=comp.archives |website=[[Google Groups]]}}</ref> as a test of the HTTP protocol stack, but was not developed further. In the next two years, however, several people produced working webmail applications.

In Europe, there were three implementations, Søren Vejrum's "WWW Mail",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vejrum.dk/www-mail/|title=www-mail page frame-placeholder for www_mail.htm}}</ref> Luca Manunza's "WebMail",<ref>Pinna, Alberto, [http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1999/dicembre/28/Soru_incontro_con_Rubbia_cosi_co_0_99122810441.shtml "Soru: un incontro con Rubbia, così nacque il web in Sardegna"], Corriere della Sera, December 28, 1999 (in Italian).</ref><ref>Ferrucci, Luca, [http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/pisa03/ferrucci.pdf "The ICT in Sardinia: Startup and evolution"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029035730/http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/pisa03/ferrucci.pdf |date=October 29, 2008 }}</ref> and Remy Wetzels' "WebMail".<ref>Internet Archive, [https://web.archive.org/web/19970424063155/http://dse.nl/wm/ "DSE Webmail"]</ref> Søren Vejrum's "WWW Mail" was written when he was studying and working at the [[Copenhagen Business School]] in Denmark, and was released on February 28, 1995.<ref>comp.internet.net-happenings, [http://scout.wisc.edu/Projects/PastProjects/NH/95-03/95-03-06/0017.html "ANNOUNCE: WWW Mail Client 1.00"], February 28, 1995.</ref> Luca Manunza's "WebMail" was written while he was working at [[CRS4]] in Sardinia, from an idea of Gianluigi Zanetti, with the first source release on March 30, 1995.<ref>comp.internet.net-happenings, [http://scout.wisc.edu/Projects/PastProjects/NH/95-03/95-03-30/0009.html WebMail – Source code release], March 30, 1995.</ref> Remy Wetzels' "WebMail" was written while he was studying at the [[Eindhoven University of Technology]] in the Netherlands for the DSE<ref>Digitale Stad Eindhoven [http://www.dse.nl/ "Digitale Stad Eindhoven"]</ref><ref>De Digitale Stad on Wikipedia [[:nl:Digitale Stad|De Digitale Stad (in Dutch)]]</ref> and was released early January 1995.

In the [[United States]], Matt Mankins wrote "Webex",<ref name=Webex>comp.mail.misc, [http://groups.google.com/group/comp.mail.misc/browse_thread/thread/768d2656998ad4fa/21742f28d6e9af3f Webex Announcement], August 8, 1995.</ref><ref name=note01 group=Note/> and Bill Fitler, while at [[cc:Mail|Lotus cc:Mail]], began working on an implementation which he demonstrated publicly at [[Lotusphere]] on January 24, 1995.<ref>Lotusphere 95 Presentation, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NeM2h4CSZs "cc:Mail Mobile's Next Generation"], January 24, 1995.</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Barney |first=Doug |date=1995-02-06 |title=Lotus cc:Mail to get better server, mobile access |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sToEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8 |access-date=2024-04-20 |magazine=InfoWorld |page=8 |volume=17 |issue=6 |issn=0199-6649}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=InformationWeek, serving the information needs of the Business Technology Community |url=https://www.informationweek.com/ |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=InformationWeek |language=en}}</ref> Matt Mankins, under the supervision of Dr. Burt Rosenberg at the [[University of Miami]],<ref>Miami.edu, [http://www.cs.miami.edu/~burt/papers/cv-mia-18.pdf CV, Dr. Burton Rosenberg] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615002105/http://www.cs.miami.edu/~burt/papers/cv-mia-18.pdf |date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref> released his "Webex" application source code in a post to comp.mail.misc on August 8, 1995,<ref name=Webex/> although it had been in use as the primary email application at the School of Architecture where Mankins worked for some months prior.

Bill Fitler's webmail implementation was further developed as a commercial product, which Lotus announced and released in the fall of 1995 as ''cc:Mail for the World Wide Web 1.0''; thereby providing an alternative means of accessing a cc:Mail message store (the usual means being a cc:Mail desktop application that operated either via dialup or within the confines of a local area network).<ref>Network World, [https://books.google.com/books?id=lA8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 "Lotus readies cc:Mail-Web hooks"], [https://books.google.com/books?id=lA8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA55 (part 2)], September 4, 1995, pp. 1, 55.</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Davis |first=Jessica |date=1995-10-02 |title=cc:Mail users will get E-mail through Web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XDoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12 |access-date=2024-04-20 |magazine=InfoWorld |page=12 |volume=17 |issue=40 |issn=0199-6649}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lw8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10 |title=Network World |date=1995-10-02 |publisher=IDG Network World Inc |language=en}}</ref>

Early commercialization of webmail was also achieved when "Webex" began to be sold by Mankins' company, DotShop, Inc., at the end of 1995. Within DotShop, "Webex" changed its name to "EMUmail"; which would be sold to companies like UPS and Rackspace until its sale to Accurev in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emumail.com/company/press_article_013.html|title=EMUmail website|access-date=June 29, 2010|archive-date=September 24, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924080650/http://www.emumail.com/company/press_article_013.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> EMUmail was one of the first applications to feature a free version that included embedded advertising, as well as a licensed version that did not.

[[Hotmail]] and [[RocketMail|Four11's RocketMail]] both launched in 1996 as free services and immediately became very popular.<ref name=freedom>{{cite web |url=http://4to40.com/legends/print.asp?id=131 |title=Sabeer Bhatiya : The founder of "Hotmail.com" |publisher=4to40.com |access-date=2009-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210043942/http://4to40.com/legends/print.asp?id=131 |archive-date=February 10, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>