April Fool’s Day: Google Gulp
It’s always worth checking Google first for April Fool’s Day pranks. This year, Google Gulp (BETA)™ with “Auto-Drink™ (LIMITED RELEASE)”.
Google never lacks a sense of humour about itself:
- Being a limited release product, Google Gulp can only be obtained by getting a cap from another Gulp user - “if you don’t know anyone who can give you one, don’t worry – that just means you aren’t cool. But very, very (very!) soon, you will be”
- Periodically, Google will collect usage data from Google Gulpers, which is stored in “the GulpPlex™, a heavily guarded, massively parallel server farm whose location is known only to Eric Schmidt, who carries its GPS coordinates on a 64-bit-encrypted smart card locked in a stainless-steel briefcase handcuffed to his right wrist”.
- Google Gulp was developed by a Google VP who spends his one-day-a-week 20% time “collecting flora samples in several Bolivian sub-equatorial rain forests.”
- From the FAQ: “Wait – you’re saying Auto-Drink™ changes my brain chemistry?” “Um, yeah – but for the better.” “When will you take Google Gulp out of beta?” “Man, if you pressure us, you just drive us away. We’ll commit when we’re ready, okay? “