Ah April Fools Day, how I hate thee so. Fortunately this year’s fake frivolity has been livened up by YouTube transporting us 100 years into the past.
April Fools Day 2011
Today is April Fools Day 2011, in case you hadn’t realized by now. April 1 comes but once a year, and I have to say I’m pleased about that because the pranks and jokes which dominate the Web on this day every 12 months would start to annoy if they were any more often.
Thankfully there are always some gems around, and this year is no exception. Google has once again delivered; its best (in my opinion) being the reverting of YouTube to its origins way back in 1911. Yes, that’s right folks, YouTube is celebrating its centenary in style.
100 Years Of YouTube
To celebrate 100 years of YouTube, we get to read the first YouTube Blog post from 1911, when “YouTube was a fledgling video site for paupers and presidents alike.”
The site itself has undergone a transformation as well, and by clicking on the 1911 logo in the top left corner of the homepage you can get transported back in time. Everything takes on a sepia tone, videos have a grainy quality about them, and there’s even some old-time music playing over the top.
There is also a genius video showing how some of the biggest virals of our time may have looked 100 years ago. Instead of The Annoying Orange we have The Irksome Citrus, Bed Intruder becomes Buggy Intruder, Fail Blog becomes Swing Flummox, Rick Rolling morphs into Ruth Rolling, and instead of Keyboard Cat playing us off, it’s Flugelhorn Feline!
Conclusions
In case you still haven’t realized this is an April Fool, despite me having made it abundantly clear throughout, YouTube isn’t 100 years old. In fact, it’s just over six years old, having been founded in February 2005. Still, it’s been nice imagining it’s been a lot longer, at least for one day.
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