7 April Fool's Day Jokes That Show Techies Have a Sense of Humor
Bet you never saw these crazy ideas coming.
-- Happy April Fool's Day!
Amazon got the party started on Tuesday by revealing a new product that actually is not a prank -- but sounded a lot like one at first. The company revealed it is rolling out its Dash delivery service, allowing users to re-order household goods by pressing a physical button.
While an Amazon representative assured ABC News the Dash button is real, here are some actual April Fool's Day pranks from Silicon Valley and beyond that show techies have a real sense of humor:
Google's Smart (Physical) Mailbox
Google wants to free your mail from the confines of the mailbox so you can touch it and smell it and once again revel in the feeling of receiving snail mail.
"Today we’re excited to introduce Smartbox—a better, smarter mailbox that fuses physical mail with everything you love about the electronic kind," Google wrote in a blog post.
A user gets an alert on their phone that they have X number of standard envelopes waiting for you. They can then go out to their smartbox, wave their hand in front of it and receive their mail.
Microsoft's MS-DOS Mobile
Windows 10 isn't even out yet but we're already over it. Check out Microsoft's back to basics MS-DOS operating system for the Lumia smartphone.
"Turning our back on graphics was hugely liberating. We've dropped the resolution, and in doing so re-discovered our roots," design lead Daniel Glass said. "The inspiration for the graphical design is Courier New meets film noir."
Doesn't it make you nostalgic for the 1980s?
Hinge For Toddlers
In today's world of competitive preschool applications and toddler extracurricular activities, it's never too early to get them started on finding a future spouse, right?
Introducing Hinge for toddlers.
The popular dating app, which works on facilitating matches for users based on their connections, is branching out to provide its services for toddlers.
Ben S., age 4, is 3-foot-8 and calls himself a "foodie, dance machine, secret agent."
Click and Grow's Martian Ambition
Click and Grow, a maker of automated plant growing technology that can turn anyone into a gardener, announced its ambition to grow food on Mars.
"Click and Grow makes it so anyone can grow fresh herbs, fruits and veggies anywhere no matter the time of year," the company said in a statement to ABC News. "And while its products were developed to be used in your earthling home, the tech might just make perfect sense for use in future Martian colonies."
At least Elon Musk, NASA and those volunteers for the Mars 100 mission will now have fresh food to eat when they arrive on the Red Planet, right?
Quiz Up is Full of Nonsense
QuizUp, the popular mobile gaming app, has added a special category that requires zero brain power.
Take a break from history, science and sports and instead mosey on over to the "nonsense" category where you can answer such gems as "Can Jesus himself microwave a burrito so hot that he himself cannot eat it?" and another asking if you'll lend a seemingly nice couple some money.
Give it a try and feel your brain cells die by the second.
Miz Mooz Selfie Shoes
This gives shoe gaze a whole new meaning. Put away your selfie stick and instead insert your phone into the docking port of your Miz Mooz pumps. Kick like a Rockette while smiling at your selfie shoes to get the perfect snap.
Amazon Parties Like It's 1999
Remember 1999 when the fear of Y2K lingered in the air and shopping online was still somewhat of a novelty?
Amazon wound back the clock 16 years for its April Fool's Day gag to show off what the site looked like in simpler times -- long before Amazon Prime and dreams of drones and instant video came along.