Two weeks ago, Google made headlines once again when they released “Inbox.” It’s not Gmail, it’s a new brand of email services. “Inbox” will read your email so you don’t have to (grouping similar messages together), display photos from the email (so you don’t have to actually click on that email from your great-Aunt Kathy to see photos of the family trip to the Grand Canyon), and sending you the “Highlights.”
The Google team has been developing Inbox for years and, as you might imagine, when they unveiled it to the world, invites were in high demand.
On Tuesday, November 5th, between 3 and 4PM PST, Google ran an “Inbox Happy Hour” promotion. Anyone anyone who sent a request to inbox@google.com was guaranteed to receive an official invite for Inbox.
Twitter lit up during #InboxHappyHour, with tweets ranging from sarcastic and witty to frustrated and upset.
OMFG didn’t get #inboxhappyhour invite. My life is over! All I have left is health, clean water, a job, family… and Twitter, apparently.
— Pete Rench (@Pete_Rench) November 6, 2014
Who ever knew that someone could be excited by a virtual happy hour. #InboxHappyHour — Carol Tang (@cqtang) November 5, 2014
There was a slight hiccup in the whole #inboxhappyhour when the inbox@google.com (apparently) went down for a short period of time and bounced back a series of emails. It was almost ironic.
That’s funny: @Google‘s @inboxbygmail can’t receive emails right now. How do I get an #InboxHappyHour invite? pic.twitter.com/Dy54zXNVkP
— Jean Friesewinkel (@jeanfw) November 5, 2014
“The user you are trying to contact is receiving mail at a rate that prevents additional messages from being delivered.” #InboxHappyHour — Michael Hobson (@imhobson) November 5, 2014
@inboxbygmail What about people that had their email bounced back bc your servers couldnt handle the load. #fashionablylate #InboxHappyHour
— Dustin Ware (@dwarious) November 6, 2014
After that, it was just a series of “I’m waiting…” tweets. It’s safe to say that #inboxhappyhour gathered more interest than Google was expecting. Despite the guarantee to get an invite by 5PM PST (as long as you sent it in the 3PM – 4PM PST window), 12 hours later, some people are still waiting on their invite.
Me waiting for my Google inbox invite #inboxhappyhour https://t.co/yQLIEil0i7 — Sandra Ordonez (@NYCOrdonez) November 6, 2014
@inboxbygmail Is it awkward that the people I told about your #InboxHappyHour have received their invites, but I still don’t have mine?
— Ryan Gardner (@ResGardner) November 6, 2014
@inboxbygmail I didn’t get mine, and I have confirmation email. Seems like this #InboxHappyHour by #InboxbyGmail was not done properly 🙁 — JJ (@Jawwadhaq) November 6, 2014
#InboxHappyHour #InboxbyGmail you are heartbreakers. still no invite 🙁
— marisa (@marisahrow) November 6, 2014
There were also quite a few people who signed up for the Inbox two weeks ago (when it was first released) and let Twitter know they were very annoyed that the #inboxhappyhour people were getting invites before they were.
@inboxbygmail I requested an invite over a week ago. Poor form not to send to those who already requested. #inboxHappyhour — CPKIII (@CPKIII) November 6, 2014
@inboxbygmail I requested an invite over a week ago. Jump on #inboxHappyhour and you get one. Really???
— ThePommy (@ThePommy) November 6, 2014
#inboxhappyhour wasn’t all bad. Plenty of people received their invite on time and loved the new Inbox.
.@Stelly @inboxbygmail nice! Am in middle of job search think this will really help w/ my insane inbox as it is. #InboxHappyHour
— Harrison Brace (@vautrin) November 6, 2014
Wow man I knew Google was good, but @inboxbygmail handles their business when it comes to taking care of users! Thanks! #InboxHappyHour
— Brent Cox (@Chiefin785) November 6, 2014
I feel like Christmas came early. Thank you @inboxbygmail !!!!!!!! #happy #InboxHappyHour
— Chika Umeadi (@ChikaUmeadi) November 6, 2014
It doesn’t look like Inbox will replace the Gmail app anytime soon, though. Everyone has their own preferences and the Google team claims that users either choose one or the other – but don’t use both. If you managed to score an invite for Inbox, try it out, and absolutely hate it, you can always switch back to Gmail.
Even if you missed the #inboxhappyhour, you can still request an invite my emailing inbox@google.com. For more on Inbox, check out this Google blog post.
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