‘Gmail Motion’ — A Joke Ahead of Its Time
By: 
Here's my problem with April Fools.
In recent years, it's not only getting harder to tell which pranks are jokes, but, increasingly, the jokes are REALLY GOOD IDEAS I WISH WERE TRUE. (See my earlier post on a Plastic Surgery Rewards Card)
Case in point.
Google's spoof this year involves an update for its email program called Gmail Motion.
Paul McDonald, Product Manager for Gmail, unveiled a video today which demonstrates a new way to read, write and send email. This new form of communicating does away with antiquated dinosaurs like keyboards and the computer mouse. Instead, a la the Microsoft Kinect, you can open email by motioning that you're opening a letter. From there, it gets pretty funny.
Watch the video.
Google has even gone to the trouble to create a printable guide on body motions for phrases like "major traffic" and "why the long face?"
On the other hand...
Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to sit in front of your computer and peck at a keyboard to type our missives? What if you could accomplish all that with a single motion? What if this could be expanded to texting on smart phones? I mean, seriously, sign me up. With a mere wave of my hand.
The idea has merit. It's certainly more practical than some of other pranks out there today, like Botox for dogs, or the gag NPR pulled off which fooled a lot of people: eye surgery to remove the need for 3D glasses.
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