It's only funny if it's true - Gmail April Fools Joke - by JoyfulCuriousity

On April 1st when I logged into my Gmail account, I was surprised to see that they were offering a "paper archive" option for email.

The innovators at Gmail had suggested that they could "print all messages instantly and prepare them for delivery. Allow 2-4 business days for a parcel to arrive via post."

As with many pieces of information that pass across my eyes, I wondered briefly, "Who would use that?" and then I thought, "I'm sure they've done their market research."

It was only days later that I saw that Gmail posed the question "Have you seen our April Fools Joke?" The link directed users to the delicious marketing-pitch satire describing "Gmail Paper".

Talking with friends later, I discovered that many, many people print out messages in 14 point font for elderly relatives. They stuff the print outs in envelopes and send the messages through the post.

It's interesting to me that even though the printing of emails keeps the elderly relatives "in the loop", those relatives who cannot respond via email will have lost their voice in the conversation.