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The Secret Origins of Microsoft Office's Clippy
Harry writes "Most folks think that Microsoft Office's Clippy, Microsoft Bob, and Windows XP's Search Assistant dog were perverse jokes — but a dozen years' worth of patent filings shows that Microsoft took the concept of animated software 'helpers' really, really seriously, even long after everyone else realized it was a bad idea. And the drawings those patents contain are weirdly fascinating." The article, a slide show really, spreads over 15 pages.
Who cares where Clippy is from. I just want it to die.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
...gets its facts wrong in the first paragraph.
Like someone says in the comments, Clippy has been around since Office 98.
That being said, I always though Microsoft's weird fascination with these things went a little too far -- anyone else remember the 20 or so different animated characters that you could get to help you in Windows XP, just to use the File Search feature?
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
The animated Microsoft characters - MS Agents - you could stick in websites and applications were pretty useful sometimes.
I used to use them in software written for kids, such as for learning basic numeracy, or spelling. A child reacts well to a little robot or santa flying round the program and asking them to do things.
I used one once as a tour guide to show people round a pretty large website I used to maintain. That was more an experiment than anything, but it got a lot of use.
I also ported it over to delphi once, it proved to be an entertaining exercise.
I wouldn't be so sure that such avatars are finished with yet, although clippy and that damn search window dog are good examples of when it can be misapplied
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
Made it to Slide 9 before the site got Slashdotted... My favorite was the slide with the two pissed-off teddy bears. They'd make great Office Assistants: "How the f*ck can we help you today?"
I remember taking some Microsoft certification tests. Now mind you that in order to pass, you must answer things the Microsoft way regardless of whether they were correct or not. Several of the questions on their programming tests involved user interfaces. Invariably, there would be a couple questions on using animated assistants. Now, the correct answer is to never use an animated assistant. But, being a Microsoft test if you saw "animated assistant", that was the Microsoft choice. After failing the first test, I learned "turn the brain off when entering the exam room and turn it on when you leave". Never failed a Microsoft test after that.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
"Modulating the Behavior of an Animated Character to Reflect Beliefs Inferred About a Userâ(TM)s Desire for Automated Services"
I think if they'd put this into practice I might have finally gotten to see Clippy take a lot of something high calibre to the face.
A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
I just realized what that post is supposed to be -- it's like a "mental DNS" attack to fark up the rest of the discussion.
Probably a rogue Microsoft patent attorney!
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
It looks like you're trying to create a slideshow about me. Would you like to...
Slashdot - News for Herds. Stuff that Splatters.
For an article interested in the "Secret Origins of Clippy", they did a good job noting that this all started with the failed Microsoft Bob ("I see you've mistyped your password. Would you like to change it?"
But for all the secrecy they've uncovered in these public patent filings, they seemed to have missed that the program manager of MS Bob was Melinda French, who later became Melinda Gates. I understand she later worked with the team that gave the world the MS Office Assistant (clippy) as well as the Search animations that show up starting around Windows XP.
I guess it's anyone's guess whether there was any nepotism driving this as a marketable feature, even when it was regularly reviled by their users.
"Hi, I noticed you're writing a ransom letter. Would you like a few pointers? If you use more threatening language, you can probably get a lot more money. Also, make sure you use gloves when you print the letter so the police can't track your finger prints"
Allegedly, Clippy annoyed people into looking in the help files to figure out how to turn him off. That led them to discover that the help file actually was helpful. This reduced the give-away service calls by some measured percent.
Probably not Clippy's intended purpose, but there you go. :)
-- Cerebus
I'm surprised we didn't see this important product listed.
Who cares where Clippy is from. I just want it to die.
I'll tell you what I want to die - Web sites that spread an article out one paragraph at a time over 15 pages where the spam-to-content ratio is 15 to 1.
I'm sorry, but I didn't read the article, since I didn't get past page one of fifteen.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I'm sure that Melinda French (later to become Melinda Gates) being the project manager for the Microsoft Bob project had nothing to do with the fact Microsoft ran with it for so long.