YouTube Time Travels to 1911 for April Fools'
By Ben Parr 2011-04-01 00:22:17 UTC
YouTube has kicked off the April Fools' festivities with a celebration of its "100th birthday" — a journey into what YouTube might have looked like in 1911, if YouTube or the Internet existed back then.
The video platform is going all out; not only has it released a promotional video depicting the "top five viral pictures of 1911," but it has also updated the logo and inserted a classic 1911 button on every video. Clicking it will transform any YouTube clip into an old-school motion picture, complete with a grainy yellowish skin and an accompanying early 20th century piano soundtrack to match.
The promotional prank video depicts what some of YouTube's biggest sensations would have looked like in 1911. It's tough not to notice the cameo appearances by Annoying Orange, Rickroll (Ruth Roll in 1911 vernacular) and Keyboard Cat (or, as they called him back in the day, Flugelhorn Feline).
YouTube's prank is a pretty good start to April Fools' Day, and we've already caught other pranks popping up on our Twitter feeds. It's going to be an interesting 24 hours.
Topics: April Fools' Day, keyboard-cat, Video, YouTube