A few months ago, Gmail decided to revamp its "theme"—i.e., the way stuff looks on your screen in terms of fonts, colors, etc.—but it gave users the option of reverting to the "old" theme. I did so because I find these theme changes annoying whenever they happen. Of course, if you're using someone else's service, you don't really get much say in how that service presents itself, and as of yesterday, I noticed that Gmail had switched me at least partially over to the new theme quite without my permission, and with no option to revert to the previous theme. Gmail has me by the short hairs, and it knows this: I've been using the service since, oh, 2006 or thereabouts, so I'm a committed customer. I guess the logic is that nothing has changed about Gmail's functionality, so a little change in looks can't hurt. If my wife suddenly decides to change her race, well, she's still my wife, right?
ADDENDUM: I can hear the counterargument to my analogy: race is fundamental to who you are, but a mere change in Gmail theme is superficial. My reply: some people argue that race is a fundamental trait, but others see race as merely superficial because we all share a common humanity. For the purposes of this analogy, I'm treating race as similar to the "skin" of a video-game character: changeable and interchangeable.
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