Most UK Gmail account holders already refer to their email as “gmail” and even give the @gmail address (I certainly do, seems I was an early adopter without really realising it). But due to trademark issues from way back when (in Internet terms) Google could not use “Gmail” in the UK. Well, now it can.
From 2005 the Gmail trademark was claimed by Independent International Investment Research. Now Google own it. Good stuff.
What does this mean for the Internet, Google users, and World Peace? Well, quite a lot according to one Googler. Greg Bullock who writes the Google Mail Blog pointed out that “Since ‘gmail’ is 50% fewer characters than ‘googlemail’ we estimate this name change will save approximately 60 million keystrokes a day”. That is a lot of typing, lots of energy. People will need to eat slightly less all over the world, and the decline in demand could save forest that would normally be turned into agricultural land.
OK, maybe I am exaggerating a little bit. But still, it makes life easier to be able to type gmail instead of googlemail.
