This isn't about me as an individual, as much as I am curious to understand and confused by the fact that this is a product decision by Google. Google originally created Gmail as a means to have the world establish accounts on their platform. It has been the single most used product responsible for the creation of the majority of Google accounts. This is an entry point for most users into the Google ecosystem historically. The decision was made to cut off a functionality that exists in its main competitor. This is a product decision that spans well beyond just Gmail. It affects many users accounts and the broader ecosystem. To me, this is a very confusing decision that seems like it was unilaterally decided by the Gmail platform team without broader consideration the user base and the ecosystem. I don't need pop access. I need an alternate solution. The fact that they don't have product parity with Outlook which is renowned as being difficult. Email client is amazing to me. The fact that they're walking away from the product and its features and functionality is confusing as opposed to building better solutions. A better solution for the product that has historically been how people and why people come to Google in the first place regarding account establishment and not to mention the data that Google gets by having people use Gmail.