(D) Use Hotmail (1996) or Yahoo mail (1997) or one of several other similar services (E) Use university or organization e-mail account [1] (F) Buy your own do

(D) Use Hotmail (1996) or Yahoo mail (1997) or one of several other similar services (E) Use university or organization e-mail account [1] (F) Buy your own domain and set up mail forwarding to another account or service [2] [1] Okay, not really much better than your ISP account, but it's a different dynamic and still slightly better, though not everyone would have this option. [2] I can't actually find a positive reference to mail forwarding being an option around the exact time-frame, but I know I had done this for some people around the early 2000's at least. Though it's a variant of (A) it's still distinct because it's a domain, not just an account.