9 Silicon Valley April Fools Stunts You Should Never Have Fallen For
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Our friends down in Silicon Valley work in lavish playgrounds designed to spur creative thought. So is it any wonder that the people who work in the tech sector come up with April Fool's pranks just about every year?
The problem is that most of them are about as subtle as a giant floating showroom in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Here are some recent Tech industry scams you should never (not even for a moment) believed.
9 - Google plans to shut down YouTube
The company posted an elaborate video in 2012 suggesting that YouTube was nothing more than an 8 year project to find the best video upload in the world. The online message went on to say that it was time for the company to shut down YouTube and review all material to determine a winner. Believe it or not, the world's most popular video sharing site survived.
8 - Vimeow
Vimeo makes it official in 2013, turning their webiste into the exclusive home for your cat videos. Still don't get the joke. Is there something MORE important we're supposed to be sharing?
7-Morgan Freeman Experience
In 2013 Omaze announced a contest offering a once in a lifetime experience: have Morgan Freeman narrate your life. "Immortalize your day with Morgan Freeman's calming voice narrating your every move." You probably should have been tipped off by the line "Every 100 entries funds a marsupial-based mascot at a North American high school."
6 - Virgin America Moves To Missouri
Earlier this week Richard Branson announced plans to move Burlingame-Based Virgin America to Branson, Missouri - population 10,000, according to CNN Money. And while we believe they're fans of native Dolly Parton, we're pretty sure the airline is targeting a slightly younger demographic. One you can find right here in the Bay Area.
5 - Gmail Motion
In 2011 Google used YouTube to tell us about a new feature. You could send emails with just your gestures. Here's the demo:
Because now your computer can see everything you do. Haha, very funny Google.
You'd never try and do that.... right?
4 - Fuity Bebblez
Smartwatch maker Bebble announced scratch 'n' sniff technology in five flavors last year. Face it people - wanting scratch and sniff isn't enough to make it real.
Proudly announcing Fruity Pebblez: the only scratch 'n' sniff smartwatch. Get all 5 flavors at http://t.co/8wHwyPRmcL pic.twitter.com/2OcP6WU0XE
— Pebble Developers (@PebbleDev) April 1, 2014
3 - Glassdoor Pays in Bitcoin
Ha! That would mean they get how Bitcoin works. Nobody knows that.
Our CEO knows #bitcoin is the future. That's why he's paying all employees in bitcoin, starting today: http://t.co/hTrKT1Tp0c
— Glassdoor (@Glassdoor) April 1, 2014
2 - Groupon Trademarks April Fool's Day
Groupon put up a new website announcing the acquisition of April Fools (which they also called a patent application for some reason). Not that creative, but they did go to the trouble of creating a quiz that let you know if you are an April fool, so that's cool.
1 - ShoeberX
The comfort of Toms shoes with the convenience of Uber.
Boy, Ya'll really went for it. No word on how surge pricing works around Christmas.
And just a reminder, to NEVER believe anything you read around April Fool's Day.
___