Back And Forth On The Foolishness Of Gmail

from the is-it-or-isn't-it? dept

The story of the day seems to be the speculation of whether or not Google's Gmail email system announcement is an April Fool's joke. It's been amusing (at the very least) to watch the collective thought process of the internet. At first people looked at the details, and how it would compare with other email services out there. Then, everyone started pointing to the silly press release about the service and suggesting that it was all a big April Fool's joke. Still, it seemed realistic enough (and so detailed) that people have now been shifting back in their opinion. The more I think about it, I'd bet that the service is real (in some sense), but the press release was the joke - and they expected that this speculation would help get them more attention. It appears to have worked. Google is now denying that it's an April Fool's joke and insisting that the service is real. Business Week weighs in on the story pointing out that if it were an April Fool's joke, it could get them in trouble with the SEC. Honestly, though, my guess is that the folks at Google wanted to do an April Fool's joke about a potential IPO - but realized that would definitely get them into some serious trouble. The Business Week piece also looks more seriously at what this means for the rest of the industry.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread



Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.