> Gmail seems like a service for the ages; but once upon a time, so did Hotmail (even in 2012, 8 years after Gmail’s launch, still the #2 email service) - yet, RIP Hotmail (1996-2013).

That's silly. Hotmail didn't go away; it was rebranded. All the email and accounts were transparently migrated - you could even use both front-ends at the same time for a short period. The important part is, Microsoft still runs email and nobody lost data. Comparing it to the Reader shutdown (or a shutdown of Gmail in a similar fashion) is an apples-to-oranges comparison of the first degree.