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Google's april fools jokes were great at first when it was a new and growing company with it's don't be evil motto. Now it feels like the old dude at the club

Google's april fools jokes were great at first when it was a new and growing company with it's don't be evil motto. Now it feels like the old dude at the club trying to stay relevant and cool.

patrickaljord 7y ago
It's not just that they're not cool, it's just that when you have billions of users, even if only 0.00001% takes the joke seriously it can lead to personal tragedy such as people losing their jobs. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/01/gmails-mic-drop-april-fool-backfires-costing-people-their-jobs/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/01/gmails-mic...
- grawprog 7y ago
  To be fair, that's a horrible idea for an April fool's prank. Ideally, they shouldn't do any actual real harm. Like actually having that button work as they described was just stupid. Maybe if it didn't actually let you press the button or did something different but still sent your email...but to actually make it do that...someone should have realized something bad was going to happen.
- FriendlyNormie 7y ago
  Please don’t link directly to sites with unskippable paywalls. https://archive.is/3TPqE https://archive.is/3TPqE
  - 45ure 7y ago
    Weird flex with 'unskippable paywall' then link it with something dodgy. The archive link produces a Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead message in Firefox. Edit: it would be nice to know why everyone is so upset with such an innocuous comment? It has to be something else, that has pissed you off, isn't it? ;-P
    - DuskStar 7y ago
      I'm pretty sure archive.is is safe... Yes, there's been some weirdness between them and Cloudflare, but nothing security related.
      - 45ure 7y ago
        Thank you for the explanation. The original article is certainly not paywalled in my jurisdiction, hence the consternation, at using an alternative source.
    - jtvjan 7y ago
      Do you use Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS? (Firefox does so by default if you live in the US, see network settings at the bottom of about:preferences) It can't resolve archive.is because 1.1.1.1 doesn't support ECS.
      - 45ure 7y ago
        Yes, I do. I was not aware of the implications. I appreciate the heads-up. I have now educated myself. Thank you. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/ev0lit/archivetoday_and_dns_over_https/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/ev0lit/archivetoda...
    - albedoa 7y ago
      What makes you think anyone is upset?
      - 45ure 7y ago
        I have specifically asked @dang to remove my account. I don't feel it is right for me to comment any more.
  - patneedham 7y ago
    The paywall on that site is skippable by disabling Javascript and refreshing the page
  - snek 7y ago
    archive.org doesn't block you based on which dns resolver you use: https://web.archive.org/web/20190914012706/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/01/gmails-mic-drop-april-fool-backfires-costing-people-their-jobs/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190914012706/https://www.teleg...
    - judge2020 7y ago
      For reference: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19493240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19493240
      - iratewizard 7y ago
        The user says it's bizarre, but it's probably related to cloudflare engaging in censorship on the web.
        Polylactic_acid 7y ago
        Cloudflare has made a statement, archive.is has not refuted it or left any comment as far as I know. I'm going to side with cloudflare here.
        Thorrez 7y ago
        archive.is specifically blocks requests that come from Cloudflare's datacenters. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21155056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21155056
- phaser 7y ago
  That's the most unfunny over-elaborate April fools idea I've heard. The fact that nobody thought it could backfire and the passive aggressive nature of the idea speaks loudly of how out of touch with reality Google engineers are.
brantonb 7y ago
April 1 is an annual holiday for me. I unplug from the internet* and try to avoid hearing of these jokes completely. They used to be funny, but now companies are just trying too hard. It’s a great excuse for a detox. * I still use the Internet for my job, but Apple isn’t pulling any pranks on their developer documentation.
orblivion 7y ago
The fact that they treat it as something that's to be scheduled and canceled is pretty indicative of this.
HenryBemis 7y ago
By far my favourite one was Google Smell (or whatever was its "official" name). I had people in the office asking me if their computer/screen was broken or incompatible because they couldn't smell anything.
- BenjiWiebe 7y ago
  Google Nose
gigatexal 7y ago
I still think they're funny but given this climate this is a good decision

Google's april fools jokes were great at first when it was a new and growing company with it's don't be evil motto. Now it feels like the old dude at the club trying to stay relevant and cool.

patrickaljord 7y ago

It's not just that they're not cool, it's just that when you have billions of users, even if only 0.00001% takes the joke seriously it can lead to personal tragedy such as people losing their jobs. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/01/gmails-mic-drop-april-fool-backfires-costing-people-their-jobs/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/01/gmails-mic...

grawprog 7y ago
To be fair, that's a horrible idea for an April fool's prank. Ideally, they shouldn't do any actual real harm. Like actually having that button work as they described was just stupid. Maybe if it didn't actually let you press the button or did something different but still sent your email...but to actually make it do that...someone should have realized something bad was going to happen.
FriendlyNormie 7y ago
Please don’t link directly to sites with unskippable paywalls. https://archive.is/3TPqE https://archive.is/3TPqE
- 45ure 7y ago
  Weird flex with 'unskippable paywall' then link it with something dodgy. The archive link produces a Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead message in Firefox. Edit: it would be nice to know why everyone is so upset with such an innocuous comment? It has to be something else, that has pissed you off, isn't it? ;-P
  - DuskStar 7y ago
    I'm pretty sure archive.is is safe... Yes, there's been some weirdness between them and Cloudflare, but nothing security related.
    - 45ure 7y ago
      Thank you for the explanation. The original article is certainly not paywalled in my jurisdiction, hence the consternation, at using an alternative source.
  - jtvjan 7y ago
    Do you use Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS? (Firefox does so by default if you live in the US, see network settings at the bottom of about:preferences) It can't resolve archive.is because 1.1.1.1 doesn't support ECS.
    - 45ure 7y ago
      Yes, I do. I was not aware of the implications. I appreciate the heads-up. I have now educated myself. Thank you. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/ev0lit/archivetoday_and_dns_over_https/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/ev0lit/archivetoda...
  - albedoa 7y ago
    What makes you think anyone is upset?
    - 45ure 7y ago
      I have specifically asked @dang to remove my account. I don't feel it is right for me to comment any more.
- patneedham 7y ago
  The paywall on that site is skippable by disabling Javascript and refreshing the page
- snek 7y ago
  archive.org doesn't block you based on which dns resolver you use: https://web.archive.org/web/20190914012706/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/01/gmails-mic-drop-april-fool-backfires-costing-people-their-jobs/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190914012706/https://www.teleg...
  - judge2020 7y ago
    For reference: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19493240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19493240
    - iratewizard 7y ago
      The user says it's bizarre, but it's probably related to cloudflare engaging in censorship on the web.
      - Polylactic_acid 7y ago
        Cloudflare has made a statement, archive.is has not refuted it or left any comment as far as I know. I'm going to side with cloudflare here.
      - Thorrez 7y ago
        archive.is specifically blocks requests that come from Cloudflare's datacenters. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21155056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21155056
phaser 7y ago
That's the most unfunny over-elaborate April fools idea I've heard. The fact that nobody thought it could backfire and the passive aggressive nature of the idea speaks loudly of how out of touch with reality Google engineers are.

brantonb 7y ago

April 1 is an annual holiday for me. I unplug from the internet* and try to avoid hearing of these jokes completely. They used to be funny, but now companies are just trying too hard. It’s a great excuse for a detox. * I still use the Internet for my job, but Apple isn’t pulling any pranks on their developer documentation.

orblivion 7y ago

The fact that they treat it as something that's to be scheduled and canceled is pretty indicative of this.

HenryBemis 7y ago

By far my favourite one was Google Smell (or whatever was its "official" name). I had people in the office asking me if their computer/screen was broken or incompatible because they couldn't smell anything.

BenjiWiebe 7y ago
Google Nose

gigatexal 7y ago

I still think they're funny but given this climate this is a good decision