Tuesday September 02nd 2008, 8:24 pm by Steve Portigal
Although Clippy was reported dead in early 2007, his cousin Ibbi (a feminized toilet seat?) has stepped forward to head up the so-helpful-you-want-to-throttle-it department.
It’s amusing to see a despised and unsuccessful software feature egregiously ripped off. Why did someone think this was a good idea?
Tags: agent, assistant, clippit, clippy, guide, ibby, interface, Microsoft, office assistant, travel, UI, website
Same old story… the perpetuation of bad ideas that looked appealing at first glance and fail to do any good. This virtual assistant thing is one of my favorite, it seems to be based on the dream of dull managers who think the future is definitely in “natural” interfaces: things that look directly similar to our experience in the world (same story with people who want to design 3D book shop in second life).
And:
Comment by nicolas 09.02.08 @ 11:09 pm- the definition of what is “natural” is contingent as well as culturally-centered
- how “natural interactions” (e.g. voice, presence of visual representation as in videophones, etc.) can be translated or supported by technology is often a failure
Nicolas – you challenge the notion of whether a “natural” solution such as Clippy would be helpful despite its seeming appeal, but further to that is my point that in 2008 why would knocking off one of the most notorious failures when there is so much evidence in the zeitgeist that it’s a bad idea. The manager would have to be without any clue whatsoever!
Comment by Steve Portigal 09.03.08 @ 7:30 am