The Google Switch: the story behind one of the greatest fakes of all time

It's not the quality of the Photoshop that made the Google Switch one of the great product fakes of all time. In fact, it was questionable enough that we asked the tipster for more detail and a second picture before publishing, and only then did we do so with skepticism. Still, once it was out, it gained so much traction in the Google-crazed Kingdom of Nerd that its image quickly became synonymous with the Googlephone -- the sweaty-palmed rumor circulating back in late 2006. When it became clear that the HTC Dream was to become the Googlephone, many editors and readers alike were left wondering about the Google Switch. After all, the rumor had never been properly debunked. Turns out that the Switch was the idea of three ordinary Dutch students -- Egbert Veenstra, Sytse-Jan Kooistra and Sam Baas -- who had already rendered the finger-touch phone-concept in late 2006. Miffed upon seeing the iPhone unveiled with many of the ideas they felt were theirs, the trio decided to generate some buzz for their concept and hooked it to the rumor du jour: the googlephone. That's when they contacted us. In retrospect, it's amazing how much they got right... or perhaps, how well Google and HTC listened. Hit the read link for their full story.

[Via the Next web]

[Anghell @ Nov 13th 2008 6:30AM]

How much exactly did they "get right" then?

[Smi @ Nov 13th 2008 6:35AM]

This is where clicking the read link, and...you know..."reading" comes in very useful.

[ybd @ Nov 13th 2008 9:20AM]

See, this is why I'm glad we got Lowest Ranked back.

[marty k. @ Nov 13th 2008 6:41AM]

I just hope that top headhunters are on them 24/7.

[bob sakamano @ Nov 13th 2008 6:58AM]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH YOU DIDNT TELL US IT A WAS A PDF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! where was the warning!?!?!?! AHHH!

[Erb @ Nov 13th 2008 7:12AM]

The read link should have been a warning...

thinking-different.PDF

Look before you click.

[Brian @ Nov 13th 2008 8:18AM]

What's so bad about a PDF?

[bob sakamano @ Nov 13th 2008 8:27AM]

i don't know, but one time i asked and the majority of people said that they freak out having to go to them...

[Dopefish @ Nov 13th 2008 7:01AM]

" its image quickly became synonymous with the Googlephone "


Yes engadget, because every "Googlephone" rumour your published had this picture on it!

[projekt84 @ Nov 13th 2008 8:56AM]

That, and that hideous picture of the HTC Dream in white in the terrible light with the leopard print sheets it was on.

[randy @ Nov 13th 2008 3:24PM]

EXACTLY! The hoax would have been NOTHING were it not for this stupid Engadget website publishing the damn thing OVER and OVER and OVER with every single Google Phone story run over the past 18 months.

WTF, Engadget?

[dnedved @ Nov 13th 2008 7:04AM]

Um, they didn't "develop" anything. Drinking beers and coming up with ideas and then rendering them is a fun afternoon. Developing both the iPhone and the G1 represent tens or hundreds of thousands of man-hours. Little bit of a difference there.

[absinthe party @ Nov 13th 2008 7:13AM]

Then I must be the champion of "fun afternoons."

[marty k. @ Nov 13th 2008 7:13AM]

Try to do "develop" it as far as they did, then. Nothing special.

[Othello @ Nov 13th 2008 7:13AM]

Where do you see the word develop?

[dnedved @ Nov 13th 2008 7:19AM]

"Develop" was on page 2/3 by the way:

"One of those is the we, three ordinary guys, had in essence the same ideas as Apple and could develop something similar as this multimillion-dollar company had. How is this possible? Are we three geniuses?"

[marty k. @ Nov 13th 2008 7:22AM]

It was a project for uni. They had to have something more than few rough 'beer ideas'

[Tim @ Nov 13th 2008 7:55AM]

Bollocks, the band-wagon got hold of them.
They did NOT develop anything, but play with an idea.
That's done all the time.
If I had the time and was not busy actually working (i.e.: if I was still a student hanging out and drinking beers), I could 'develop' at least a dozen of these 'ideas' that have been floating in my head. Alas, unless you have an actual route to market and, you just waste everybody's time.
They were not the first with this idea, Apple (and others) were actually physically designing, developing and engineering these devices for a couple of years by the time these three guys sat down for a couple of beers.
They published their idea to a receptive audience at the right time by a lucky coincidence.
For over a year they have now felt the hurt and have actually managed to make themselves believe that they set something in motion, when they just reflected the market.
Now they publish a cry letter... - hire them at your peril, Palm is probably knocking at their door right now...

[lurch_mojoff @ Nov 13th 2008 10:39AM]

marty, their "project for uni" was, and I quote, "3D-project in which me and my teammates were expected to model and animate some kind of revolution in public transportation." Let me stress "3D", "model" and "animate" - in other words art project, not an engineering one. Drawing pretty pictures, even in three dimensions, is infinitesimally simpler than creating a actual product because you don't have to worry about pesky physics, electronics, material science, etc. limitations.

[Nerm000 @ Nov 13th 2008 7:46AM]

I think I've kissed a few rough beer ideas...

[Kris @ Nov 13th 2008 7:48AM]

I think it looks better than the G1

[oZ @ Nov 13th 2008 7:56AM]

Haven't actually seen a G1 in real life, then?

[Tim @ Nov 13th 2008 8:01AM]

Well, I hope by that you are implying that it looks better than in the photos, 'cause it looks like cheapo crap in those..., designed with the delicacy of a turd.

[teej @ Nov 13th 2008 2:04PM]

i think he's saying that, a full phone w/ maximum LCD surface area and minimal bezel is awesome. i think it would look sexier than both the G1 and iphones. however, engineering and design reality as such will probably not meet for several years.

[Kris @ Nov 14th 2008 12:24AM]

What teej said

[jaja @ Nov 13th 2008 8:10AM]

Fun thing but nothing special really, I personally had a very similar experience watching the Leopard keynote at the time. For an interface design class few months earlier I and a classmate came up with a new filebrowser/spotlight thing, this was in this keynote showcasing the possibilities of coreAnimation. While designing the filebrowser I came up with another thing this was quickview (hitting spacebar and nameing was also the same :-D ). Ideas are most of the time not unique at all, like someone else mentioned if you really make it into a product that's what counts. Fun thing they are Dutch too :-D

[bob sakamano @ Nov 13th 2008 8:30AM]

I'm actually more impressed by the realness of the fake names on the phone they created for the picture!

[Ron @ Nov 13th 2008 8:42AM]

A quality fake of a Google phone partially created by a guy named Egbert. You truly have achieved Nerdvana with this one!

[apple fanboy @ Nov 13th 2008 9:02AM]

best fake of all time

[lkw @ Nov 13th 2008 9:28AM]

Second only to the Apollo moon landing.

[schmitty338 @ Nov 13th 2008 9:52AM]

@Ikw...you MUST be joking...

Every day many different institutions (including the University I attend) shoot a laser at a reflector ON THE MOON to determine how fast it is moving away from the Earth. How did the reflector get there? That's right, humans from the Apollo missions put it there when THEY LANDED ON THE MOON.

We went to the moon, end of story.

[Mobius_1 @ Nov 13th 2008 11:35AM]

Don't trust Mr Blurrycam ;)

But if they really had all these ideas and could (given more time and/or resources) implemented them or came up with a prototype like that, then they really are geniuses, and I should go have a couple of beers with my mates.

[Richy @ Nov 13th 2008 1:17PM]

No one ever believed that this was real did they? I know I didn't.

And to reiterate earlier posters: ideas are cheap. Turning those ideas into reality, overcoming obstacles, honing your ideas in light of unforeseen issues, takes time, effort, and skill.

I'm a designer, and I know how hard it is to get from the 5 bullet point 'great idea' to a reality that looks anything like the original idea, and hangs together.

[I Like Boobs!! @ Nov 13th 2008 3:51PM]

The thing that made it unbelievable for me is the fact that there is no speaker and microphone lol

[Squid7085 @ Nov 13th 2008 8:25PM]

Reminds me of the "iWalk" oh, good times.

[keithwwalker @ Nov 13th 2008 8:32PM]

The only credit that should be given to them is that of the form factor, but no credit for all of the engineering that has to back that form factor up.

Personally, this 'concept' has the actual G1 beat.