Speaking Monday at the Microsoft Research event, the chairman said Microsoft Bob didn't get it right, but he thinks it will reemerge with a bit more sophistication. July 15, 2013 11:57 AM PDT Rick Rashid, former head of Microsoft Research, and Bill Gates take questions at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit at the company's Redmond, WA headquarters. (Credit: Microsoft) Bill Gates thinks that Microsoft Bob, or at least the concept, will come back to life as intelligent personal agents become part of everyday computing. Microsoft Bob, introduced by Gates at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1995, provided a virtual house with rooms and doors and cartoon character assistants to help navigate Windows and perform tasks with Microsoft applications. For example, clicking on the door knocker allowed users to log-in and clicking on a calendar on the wall launched the calendar application. (Read Harry McCracken's fine history of Microsoft Bob.) Speaking Monday at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit at the company's Redmond, WA headquarters, the chairman said Microsoft Bob didn't get it right, but that he thinks it will reemerge with a bit more sophistication. "We were ahead of our time," he said. Microsoft Bob for Windows 3.1 circa 1995. (Credit: Microsoft) Microsoft Bob failed to impress users, who were content to live with their simple icons and folders and without cute dogs providing instructions in cartoon bubbles. Bob lived a brief, much pilloried life, exiting the stage in early 1996. But the ideas persisted in the Office assistant helper, Clippy, also a subject of derision by critics and featured in Microsoft Office 97 through 2003. The new generation of personal agents will be more adept at planning activities, such as organizing a trip in a certain way, Gates said. Microsoft Bob won't come back as a dog, and will morph into a disembodied voice from the cloud, wrapped in the Windows 8 tiled interface, who understands all that you do or are willing to share online, anticipates your needs and presents relevant information anytime, anywhere and on any device. So far, Apple's Siri and Google Now are alone in providing modestly intelligent personal assistance from the cloud. Bob needs to get back to work.
Speaking Monday at the Microsoft Research event, the chairman said Microsoft Bob didn't get it right, but he thinks it will reemerge with a bit more sophistication.
Rick Rashid, former head of Microsoft Research, and Bill Gates take questions at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit at the company's Redmond, WA headquarters.
(Credit: Microsoft)
Bill Gates thinks that Microsoft Bob, or at least the concept, will come back to life as intelligent personal agents become part of everyday computing. Microsoft Bob, introduced by Gates at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1995, provided a virtual house with rooms and doors and cartoon character assistants to help navigate Windows and perform tasks with Microsoft applications. For example, clicking on the door knocker allowed users to log-in and clicking on a calendar on the wall launched the calendar application. (Read Harry McCracken's fine history of Microsoft Bob.)
Speaking Monday at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit at the company's Redmond, WA headquarters, the chairman said Microsoft Bob didn't get it right, but that he thinks it will reemerge with a bit more sophistication. "We were ahead of our time," he said.
Microsoft Bob for Windows 3.1 circa 1995.
(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft Bob failed to impress users, who were content to live with their simple icons and folders and without cute dogs providing instructions in cartoon bubbles. Bob lived a brief, much pilloried life, exiting the stage in early 1996. But the ideas persisted in the Office assistant helper, Clippy, also a subject of derision by critics and featured in Microsoft Office 97 through 2003.
The new generation of personal agents will be more adept at planning activities, such as organizing a trip in a certain way, Gates said. Microsoft Bob won't come back as a dog, and will morph into a disembodied voice from the cloud, wrapped in the Windows 8 tiled interface, who understands all that you do or are willing to share online, anticipates your needs and presents relevant information anytime, anywhere and on any device. So far, Apple's Siri and Google Now are alone in providing modestly intelligent personal assistance from the cloud. Bob needs to get back to work.
