Re:Ask HN: Why doesn't Microsoft bring Clippy back instead o...
by sircastor on Monday January 27, 2025 @12:10PM
(#42843273)
> Clippy, on the other hand, is very charismatic.
Clippy was not popular. While I like the idea of a character that you can relate to, but I think it doesn't really fit in the modern context. When Clippy arrived, computers had really just broken into the mainstream - they were still magic boxes and there were a lot of efforts to soften them and make them accessible to "normal people"
I think these days computers are seen simply as a tool, and the animations of a couple of decades ago are seen as distracting or superfluous now.
As an aside, I found it odd that Microsoft chose to name its voice assistant after Cortana back in the VA craze of the last decade. It seemed like a poor choice to me as it was conflating the game experience with a real-life experience.
Clippy was not popular. While I like the idea of a character that you can relate to, but I think it doesn't really fit in the modern context. When Clippy arrived, computers had really just broken into the mainstream - they were still magic boxes and there were a lot of efforts to soften them and make them accessible to "normal people"
I think these days computers are seen simply as a tool, and the animations of a couple of decades ago are seen as distracting or superfluous now.
As an aside, I found it odd that Microsoft chose to name its voice assistant after Cortana back in the VA craze of the last decade. It seemed like a poor choice to me as it was conflating the game experience with a real-life experience.