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15 Years of Microsoft Bob

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the celebrate-good-times-come-on dept.

harrymcc writes "Microsoft Bob — still synonymous in the tech industry with 'embarrassing flop' — shipped fifteen years ago this week, on March 31st, 1995. When the Windows interface featuring animated cartoon helpers was announced, it was hyped to the heavens and briefly accepted as a breakthrough that showed where software was going. Instead, dismal reviews and poor sales killed it after only a year on the market. At Technologizer, we're marking the anniversary with a complete look at how it came to be and why it failed so resoundingly — and how Microsoft tried again with Office's 'Clippy' and other attempts to revive the basic idea."

23 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Oh great... by sixteenraisins · · Score: 4, Funny

    And to think, I was *this* close to actually forgetting about this miserable piece of shit.

    Thanks, Slashdot. \:

    --
    When you're not looking, this sig is in Latin.
    1. Re:Oh great... by piripiri · · Score: 3, Informative

      There you are, take some screenies in your face.

    2. Re:Oh great... by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Probably would have succeeded if it had been released during the Windows 3 years. Believe it or not, I think BOB was superior to that piece'o'crap.

      Then again, what wasn't better than Windows 3? MacOS System 6/7 or Amiga Workbench were both better. Hell even Commodore=64's GEOS was better.

      "I minimized my Word doc, and now I can't find it. Where'd it go?" - "It's behind the program manager." - "Grrrr."

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    3. Re:Oh great... by c++0xFF · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How long must keep bringing up such a miserable piece of junk and humiliating Microsoft?

      Forever. And often. They need some humility.

      We should do the same for other companies -- Apple needs some humility, too.

    4. Re:Oh great... by edittard · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It looks like you're trying to get a first post. Would you like me to:

      * Help you with a template

      * Waste your time so you fail it

      * Just bugger off

      --
      At the bottom of the /. main page it says 'Yesterday's News'. Well they got that right.
  2. Bob Who? by Bob_Who · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...Oh yeah. I always wondered what the heck everyone was talking about.....

  3. Hey by kiehlster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I enjoyed Microsoft Bob very much, as a child. The post-modern room was amazing. I spent hours playing around with that program, so it has sentimental value to me you insensitive clod.

    1. Re:Hey by istartedi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, that pretty much sums it up. You enjoyed it as a kid. Trouble is, it was marked to adults.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    2. Re:Hey by Stargoat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have several adult users who would have loved to have Microsoft Bob. As it was, there was very cranky people well I changed to Office 2007 and they lost their Paperclips or Kitty Cat or whatever the heck they had. These cranky people are not knuckleheads, but rather accountants, loan officers, and other people who like a touchy-feely PC.

      The problem is not that Microsoft Bob was marketed to adults, but rather it is IT guys who buy software for organizations. A PC is a tool and like all tools, works best with the fewest necessary peripheries. IT guys recognize this. They have no use for Bob and they feel (perhaps rightly) that their users should have no use for Bob and Bob like programs bring no real value.

      --
      Hoist Number One and Number Six.
    3. Re:Hey by Scrameustache · · Score: 5, Funny

      These cranky people are not knuckleheads, but rather accountants

      You and I have wildly diverging opinions of accountants...

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

  4. My Mom Liked Clippy by Petersko · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think the problem with Clippy was that he was ten years too early. If the little fellow was around today he wouldn't get nearly as much abuse. People are more used to the wizard idea now, and to being guided through tasks.

    Back then the average user was (I suspect) more technically knowledgeable - the PC as appliance wasn't entrenched. So everybody felt a little insulted when Clippy stuck his nose in their work.

    So yes, my mom liked Clippy. If you actually needed his help he was reasonably helpful.

    1. Re:My Mom Liked Clippy by Deathlizard · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I agree that it was ahead of it's time.

      If you could replace Clippy with Hatsume Miku, Japanese sales of Office would go through the roof.

      --
      In Soviet Russia, Trojan exploits YOU!
    2. Re:My Mom Liked Clippy by Scrameustache · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think the problem with Clippy was that he was ten years too early.

      It looks like you're trying to do some work, would you like me to interrupt?

      I had a college friend who called me in a panic once, she had a paper due the following day and Clippy had popped up and WOULD NOT GO AWAY. It completely prevented her from continuing with her work. I drove there, and found the option to get rid of that monstrosity buried in some deep menu so she could continue after that wasted hour... Clippy should have been the focus of a class-action lawsuit that would have put MS out of business as a warning to others, if there was any justice in the world.

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

    3. Re:My Mom Liked Clippy by nmb3000 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I had a college friend who called me in a panic once, she had a paper due the following day and Clippy had popped up and WOULD NOT GO AWAY.

      I have to say I find that unlikely considering that the Office assistant does not steal focus away from the program you're using and that moving it out of the way is as difficult as clicking and dragging it to the side of the screen. And the deep, secret menu to get rid of it? Right click and choose "Hide".

      Every time this topic comes up, it seems like the people most vehemently against Clippy and MS BOB were the people who never actually even saw or used them. They just see that it's fashionable to hate them and jump on board.

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
    4. Re:My Mom Liked Clippy by BrokenHalo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      they just frickin' work. You don't need to know about timing belts and spark plugs and carburetors vs fuel injection. You just have to have some common sense.

      Unfortunately, modern cars seem to make these conditions mutually exclusive. They are designed for people who have no common sense, and discourage its use.

      In the days when we had to double-declutch through every gear and make allowances for iffy brakes or steering, no-one had any expectation that talking on the phone while playing a bouzouki were compatible with driving safely.

  5. Don't Forget Melinda Gates... by nweaver · · Score: 5, Funny

    How did she meet Bill?

    She was Unit Manager for Microsoft Bob...

    --
    Test your net with Netalyzr
    1. Re:Don't Forget Melinda Gates... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      How did she meet Bill?

      She was Unit Manager for Microsoft Bob...

      Bill: Well hello there, how'd you like to manage my unit? *strikes pose*

    2. Re:Don't Forget Melinda Gates... by Daltorak · · Score: 4, Informative

      How did she meet Bill?

      She was Unit Manager for Microsoft Bob...

      This isn't correct. MS Bob was released in 1995; Bill and Melinda met in 1987. She'd just joined Microsoft and was a programmer -- and by all accounts, a pretty good one at that. Plus, she's pretty hot, and she was 23 that year. Wouldn't you scoop up a girl like that, especially back then when women were still really rare in the field?

    3. Re:Don't Forget Melinda Gates... by gtall · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hi there, I see you are making a pass at a girl half your age. Would you like:

      * some helpful pickup lines 'cause, you know, you've been failing miserably up to now.

      * a butt lift so she won't have premonitions of your commercial with Jerry Seinfeld.

      * a personality adjustment so you don't act like a geek with a developmental disability.

  6. Microsoft Bob? by DarkKnightRadick · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is he any relation to Baghdad Bob?

    Baghdad Bob: "No, there are no allied tanks rolling through Baghdad."
    *background shows tanks rolling through Baghdad*

    --
    "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25 (NKJV)
  7. If you have Windows XP, you got a copy of Bob by aoshi73 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Nice story about MS Bob. Run a search on Bing for "History taking up space." Here is the direct link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2008.07.windowsconfidential.aspx

    --
    http://nyewin.org http://nyexug.com http://nycsqlusergroup.com http://nylug.org
    1. Re:If you have Windows XP, you got a copy of Bob by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Informative

      No mod points today, so thank you. That was interesting, amusing and brief.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  8. Re:it failed because it's bullshit technology by Thud457 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Bob's just a ripoff of Magic Cap. Once again, Microsoft with embrace, extend, extinguish.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff