The Internet may have ruined April Fool's Day, but that doesn't mean the gags have ended. News outlets and #brands alike apparently can't resist pulling pranks, but it can be tough to separate the real stories from the fake. Amazon's one-click buy button? That's, surprisingly, 100 percent real. Amazon.com's vintage homepage look today? Not a legit redesign, but it's a lovely throwback to Web 1.0. To help you parse through the myriad hoaxes online today, we've put together a running list below of April Fool's pranks:
Uber
Uber introduces CarShop. It's basically a SkyMall for cars, or just one more way to avoid interacting with your Uber driver. Definitely fake.
Google, as usual, has a couple of tricks up its sleeve for April Fool's:
- Google Maps lets you play Pac-Man through wherever you'd like. Just click on the Pac-Man icon on the bottom left of your screen.
- Type in "com.google" today, and you'll end up on its mirror site. Search results will also be mirrored, if you're into that.
- Google's Internet and TV service launched dial-up mode, so you can have more time to do "the little things in life." Fake.
- The Smartbox by Inbox offers all the features of your email inbox in the form of a physical mailbox you can carry with you. It is also definitely (and thankfully) fake.
Tumblr
The microblogging site enters the fray with a throwback gag called the ExecutiveSuite Productivity Edition 2016. Once you start your free trial, you'll be inundated with helpful tips from a Clippy-like character named "Coppy," as well as new icons and a dashboard that lets you do things like scribble over a yellow notepad. You know, to make you a better, more productive online businessperson.
Check this space for more updates throughout the day.
This article was originally published at http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/april-is-the-foolest-month/389318/
