Custom Time: Google Celebrates April Fools Day

April 1st is traditionally a day of pranks. This year, even Google joined the fun with the Custom Time feature in GMail. This "new feature" allows senders to change the date and time of when the email was actually sent. So, if you were late sending in a financial report to your boss, all you have to do is change the time of when the email was sent to when it was actually due. You can even have the emails marked as Read or Unread.

It took me a minute or two to figure out that is was a prank, but there were some key points that tipped me off. First, was Todd J., Investment Banker. His "testimonial" spoke of how he used to be a good person, and now he doesn't have to think about doing the right thing anymore. The wording just made it a little over the top. After becoming a little suspicious, I began to reread the information about Custom Time. I began to realize very quickly that it had to be a joke, especially when you read what each of the variables from their equation (which was used to determine the number of times you could use this feature a year) represented. Four variable were used in this equation: Total Emails Sent (ok, I could handle this one), Probability that user believes time stamp (well, up until now, that should be 100%), The Golden Ratio (now things are getting suspicious), and Average Life Expectancy. But the big kicker came when I checked my email just to be sure. Sure enough, if you go to Compose Email, there is NO place for you to change the time of when the email was sent.

But while I was figuring this out, I was also thinking about the ethics of being able to send something in late, but have it look like you sent it in on time. I was trying to think of a situation of when it would be alright to use if it were an actual feature, but it has been hard. It would simply be giving people and unfair advantage over the ones who actually did their work on time--essentially another form of cheating. Custom time would be a huge temptation on a lot of college campuses where professors allow students to email papers and assignments. If this feature became a reality, it would essentially be a step backwards in becoming a paperless society.

So for now, enjoy laughing at everyone who took Custom Time seriously. Pull pranks of your own. If you know someone who uses FireFox, check out this page.

Happy April Fools Day!!