Google Removes April Fools' Day Prank Email Feature

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Not all April Fools Day pranks went over well today. Google has apologized for a Gmail prank that didn't sit well with some people, especially the guy that said he is now unemployed after using the feature. :eek:

The prank, called "Mic Drop," gave users the option of sending emails through a special send button that - if the person replied - did not show the response. Users could ignore the feature, but some apparently clicked in error on the special button instead of the usual button. "Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. Due to a bug, the Mic Drop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs," Google said in a Gmail blog post after its help forum filled with complaints.
 
Sounded like a stupid "prank" even if it hadn't caused problems.
 
If gmail (or any free) accounts are used for business reasons, they go down several notches in my book. Doesn't the EULA say these free accounts can't be used by businesses? I laugh if someone using it for their business got stung by it.

Although if you are using it for personal reasons, I feel sorry for you. Sometimes you have to pay a little bit of attention to the small things.
 
Hah, that would be a feature where I work. I always follow up an email with a visit or a phone call to that person.
 
amddragonpc said:
Hah, that would be a feature where I work. I always follow up an email with a visit or a phone call to that person.
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^This. About 8 years ago, one of my friends who used hotmail said he hadn't gotten the email I sent from a yahoo account. We went to his computer, and checked my 'sent' box. Yup, there it is. On the off chance that he (or someone else who might have gotten his password) deleted it or it went to spam, I sent another one. Nothing. The email never arrived. To this day. Thinking it might be a problem between two competing free email companies, we've kept track since, and have had the same thing happen with yahoo and gmail (he doesn't use hotmail anymore). I've had the same thing happen with my verizon email account. So it appears email is no more reliable than snail mail. I wonder where in the ether my lost emails are floating around?

Moral of the story? If you don't get a response, don't assume your email ever arrived.

Texting is possibly not much better; about twice a year I'll get gibberish mixed in with a text or a missing text. When we check both phones, the gibberish does not appear on the phone with the sent message, and the missing text has always been there. So again, messages going 'to nowhere'.
 
Puerile and stupid. Don't fuck with people's communications.

Thank God I don't use Google's shitty services. What a fucking disaster.
 
ShagnWagn said:
If gmail (or any free) accounts are used for business reasons, they go down several notches in my book. Doesn't the EULA say these free accounts can't be used by businesses? I laugh if someone using it for their business got stung by it.

Although if you are using it for personal reasons, I feel sorry for you. Sometimes you have to pay a little bit of attention to the small things.
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Google offers a service where they basically host your email for you with gmail, but using your own domain. I worked for this one small company for a few weeks that used it - it was great, but it forced you to not be logged in to your personal gmail in order for it to work, which was mildly annoying.

I have to say, a feature where you just don't ever see the response to your messages really isn't that funny. I'd expect more from Google, like maybe a thing where it randomly puts in little cat anigifs when it detects a signature at the bottom of the message. Everyone knows that one lady at work who signs her emails with cat anigifs
 
Jeez, salty people here. It's a day of comedy and it was a mistake. They owned up to it, but there are worse things in this world. It's not like it's a day off...
 
BloodyIron said:
Jeez, salty people here. It's a day of comedy and it was a mistake. They owned up to it, but there are worse things in this world. It's not like it's a day off...
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agree'd, some people on this forum need to grab some gloves and really yank on that stick they sat on lol. I enjoy April fools day, 95% of the time its clean silly fun that brightens a work day and boosts moral for people that can take and give a joke (AKA a well balanced person). Its like a grown up easter hunt for my shop, half the fun is setting traps/pranks like the classic airhorn behind the open drawer and finding the prank before you get got
 
RazorWind said:
Google offers a service where they basically host your email for you with gmail, but using your own domain. I worked for this one small company for a few weeks that used it - it was great, but it forced you to not be logged in to your personal gmail in order for it to work, which was mildly annoying.
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You can have multiple gmail inboxes open, all you do is click your profile icon at the top-right and it gives you the option to "add account". At my last job I always had my personal and work gmail accounts pinned in chrome with both inboxes open.
 
Jaymzkerten said:
You can have multiple gmail inboxes open, all you do is click your profile icon at the top-right and it gives you the option to "add account". At my last job I always had my personal and work gmail accounts pinned in chrome with both inboxes open.
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Oh, so it does. You learn something new every day. :)
 
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