Culture

Gmail For Work Is Down For Many Users And HOLY SHIT WE’RE ALL FREE

Work is cancelled. What... happens now?

by Matilda Dixon-Smith  15 September 2016

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Today the internet may have gifted us with the adult equivalent of a snow day: Work Gmail, Google’s subscription-based business service, is down across the globe for many users and our tech overlords at Google seem unable to provide a comprehensive fix.

At approximately 1am this morning, Google began investigating claims made by users that there was a service disruption to some Gmail accounts. Google reported that the disruption “[affected] only Google for Work Gmail users” and that they would “provide more information shortly”.

Cut to several hours later, as Aussies are rolling into work for the 9am start, and the problem still wasn’t fixed, despite claims made by the internet giant at around 4am that: “we expect a solution within the next 1 hours [sic]”.

Needless to say, those who rely on Work Gmail are quietly losing their minds.

The outage does raise a lot of questions about how we deal with disruptions to technology in an age when it virtually runs our lives. As with yesterday’s iPhone bricking saga, we seem to have proved yet again that we don’t not take kindly to our toys being taken away.

Google has yet to provide an overall fix or explain the reason behind the service disruption, despite their enigmatic post earlier this morning: “Thank you for your patience. We have identified the root cause of the issue and a potential fix is being implemented”. Service is slowly being restored for some users, and you can follow updates here while wildly refreshing your browser.

Alternatively, now’s a great time to practice the ancient art of desk yoga, raid your co-workers snacks and packed lunches, or sneak out of the office while your boss is in that “Emergency Google for Work Meeting”.

Pictured: you, moments before stepping into the pub.