When Microsoft brought in their trustworthy computing
initiative, one of the first visible effects was the discontinuation of Easter Eggs in Windows and Office. These hidden
functions, while fun, violated the idea that software should only work the way that
is documented and expected. Hidden
functionality and behaviour is undesirable if software is to be trusted, so
they had to go.
One morning as I looked though a gallery of April foods
jokes there were some, such as the phone glove, that I could see as possible products similar to ones that I would expect at a conference like CES.
In addition, as ZDNet pointed out, the hoax
twenty-five years ago from apple was that it had a network that worked through power lines, something that is common today.
In an industry that prides itself on thinking outside the box and is
highly competitive, odd new products should be expected.
The problem can also be seen from the other side. Who would expect after reading all the negative
news on BlackBerry that they would be able to stop an accessory for the iPhone from being sold? I
can easily imagine an April Fool's article declaring that courts rule that
BlackBerry owns the QWERTY keyboard. If I found out about the ban on April Fool's Day, I
might wonder whether it was a hoax as the headline screams April
Fools’ joke.
This makes me think that while I enjoy these fun ideas and
even think they might be valuable in creating future products, they should they be
clearly marked as humor. WestJet ended KargoKids
with an April Fools message, to the dismay of many viewers. In this case the April Fool's message greatly improved the joke but even if it didn't would it ever harm a joke if it was clearly identified as such?
We rely on the press and other websites for accurate news
and to have false information, even if it is on a widely published day of hoax,
degrades the ability of these media to convey information. All one has to do is think of the all the legitimate news published today that is in doubt simply because they released on April 1st.
