I remember the early days of the web. Yahoo was a news site, a search engine and an e-mail provider. There were even Yahoo ads on tv. Your free e-mail account came with a bunch of storage space. You could keep those files private or set it so that any other Yahoo user could see and download them. You could upload an image for other users to see or pick from assorted avatar designs an accessories. My Yahoo avatar was a caucasian guy with dark hair and a beard, wearing a white lab coat and x-ray specs standing a cave filled with bats. You could use your Yahoo ID and password for Yahoo instant messenger. You could use your Yahoo e-mail address and password on Flickr. At some point, they rolled out chat rooms.
It was shortly after the chat rooms that Yahoo peaked. Then, things began to be taken away. As far as I know, these days they just offer a new page nobody ever reads and e-mail. They keep messing with how the e-mail site is set up. I haven’t really investigated Gmail. I assume it is better in every way. But I dislike change. Plus, I would have to update the e-mail address on the SDMB and everything else I have a membership on.