YouTube turns videos upside down on April Fools’!
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YouTube rolled out its April Fools’ prank early on Wednesday by turning videos and entire pages of content upside down.
The stunt demonstrates one of the few advantages of running an expensive, loss-making video streaming business: you can safely screw with the user experience without needing to worry about hurting non-existent revenues and the valued sponsor relationships of a normal business.
The advantages of running a non-profitable business.
YouTube has kindly posted a helpful guide for those who want to get back to viewing videos on the site before midday on April 1st.
- Turn your monitor upside-down: Our internal tests have shown that modern computer monitors give a higher quality picture when put upside down — just like it’s best to rotate your mattress every six months. You might find that YouTube videos look better this way.
- Tilt your head to the side: Imagine you have water in your ear and need to get it out. Tilt your head towards one shoulder and watch the video (gentle head-smacking on the opposite side is optional).
- Move to Australia: As you probably know, everything in Australia is upside-down, so moving to Australia may provide you with a more natural YouTube viewing experience. (Note: If you live Down Under and the page is still upside-down for you, then we recommended moving to the northern hemisphere.)
It’s good to see those creative folks at Google taking full advantage of YouTube on this important day in the calendar. But I think the biggest tech company on the planet has Google beat.
If you go to the official Windows Vista website, Microsoft are announcing the Open-Sourcing of the 32 bit and 64 bit Ultimate Editions of the Operating System this morning — ahead of the highly-anticipated release of Windows 7.
Have fun out there today folks!
13 Comments
Devin Johnston
April 1st, 2009
at 1:38am
That is seriously the most annoying April fools web prank ever. I find it funny when Google et al. do their usual April fools things. But this particular one guarantees that I will not be visiting YouTube for the next 24 hours.
David M. Brown
April 1st, 2009
at 1:52am
I am disappointed from a legitimacy point of view.
Any considerations for YouTube becoming a valid info source for medical emergency news just went down.
I had hope for the organization and almost touted it.
YouTube turns videos upside-down on April fools! ~ Tackling Technology :weight loss
April 1st, 2009
at 5:28am
[...] Here is the original: YouTube turns videos upside-down on April fools! ~ Tackling Technology [...]
Isaiah
April 1st, 2009
at 6:26am
I am happy to hear this. At first, I was beginning to believe that my computer had been infected with that conficker virus or some sort… then I started thinking and remembered that YouTube was owned by Google and realized there must be a joke of some sort for April Fool’s Day.
I suggest that we all cancel our accounts next year for April Fool’s Day and see how they like that….
steve
April 1st, 2009
at 6:35am
hi,
at first i thought youtube may have redesigned their player, then when the video started playing i thought they may have had a technical problem.
i then read on a comment that it was april fools joke. hehhe.
i am in australia and things arnt upside down. but it was funny at first.
Clyde
April 1st, 2009
at 6:45am
lame lame lame and not even cute. this type of shit is reserved for fags and niggers
Alex
April 1st, 2009
at 8:00am
I think this is the worst!!! Are guys out of your mind? The You Tube became the source of tutorial and medical for many!! This is not a joke!!! Finish it!!!!!!
Zee
April 1st, 2009
at 8:58am
All you have to do is click the link that says “I prefer the old layout” to disable it.
CAIN
April 1st, 2009
at 9:52am
CLYDE WOW
topsy
April 1st, 2009
at 12:52pm
Thank God!!! I thought I maybe had caught a virus!
April 1: Google fun: Gmail Autopilot, CADIE, and … « Xenophilia (True Strange Stuff)
April 1st, 2009
at 1:38pm
[...] hoaxes include upside-down viewing from YouTube, a Web site of smells called smellr (smell-ER) and an “ideological search engine” from [...]
WTF
April 2nd, 2009
at 7:36am
WOW you guys are SO addicted go outside or somthing WTF who go’s to youtube everyday is gay whahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Janice O'Johnson
April 5th, 2009
at 10:16am
Ah!!!! I saw it on Wednesday and didn’t realise it was an April Fools joke! Now I get it. I just thought they broke the site and moved on!