Friday, Apr. 01, 2011
Gmail Paper - 2007
"You click. We stack. You get."
Google has long encouraged users of its Gmail service to archive, rather than delete, their e-mail. But paper archives too? That was the idea behind the 2007 launch of Gmail Paper, which promised to provide on-demand printed copies of e-mails for users. The massive costs of printing and shipping would be offset by advertisements on the back of each sheet, printed in "red, bold, 36-pt. Helvetica."
The hoax website lives on today. But paper lovers beware — there's still no word on how Google planned to handle the Viagra ads and Nigerian e-mail scams that would undoubtedly clutter every shipment.