Over the years the amount of effort put into creating April Fools’ jokes has increased exponentially, with some more plausible than others (see above). Some, such as Google and Amazon go to the trouble of creating really slick websites and videos such as these from Google (love the girl’s reaction at the end):
And Amazon for its Dash button:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMacTuHPWFI
But what happens when you release a new, genuine, product on 1st April such as, well, Amazon with it’s Dash button because it’s for real.
I woke up, checked the tech stories, saw Amazon Dash and initially dismissed it as an April Fool but then I saw it on the BBC website and thought about it and that it might actually make sense. Later other stories started appearing suggesting tht it was for real.
So why did Amazon release it so close to April 1st? I can only imagine that Amazon thought they would get increased exposure by linking it as people checked it out and blogged about it – just as I have done!