the abbreviated reign of “neon” leon spinks

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Nobel Prize–winning behavior researcher Konrad Lorenz, who saw cute-
ness as a potent cue for behavior, and noted that people were nicer to ani-
mals whose physical features reminded them of human children.)
Microsoft’s initial attempt at a social interface, “Bob,” was devel-
oped under the supervision of Melinda Gates, a Microsoft executive who
also happened to be the wife of company chairman and cofound er Bill
Gates. It was released in early 1995. When installed on early versions of
the Windows point-and-click user interface, it converted the Windows
desktop into a house with ten rooms—including a family room, a study,
and an attic—that a computer user could decorate in a variety of styles,
ranging from medieval to postmodern. The furnishings were actually
icons that opened various applications, such as a letter-writing program, a
checkbook, a calendar, and an e-mail program. The interface featured a
number of animated inhabitants whose personalities ranged, in the words
of software historian Dan Rose, from “happily enthusiastic” to “downright
obnoxious.” Bob’s cast included cartoon animals such as Hopper the
stuffed blue bunny, Digger the worm, Blythe the fi refly, Rover the dog,
and Chaos the cat. The program also offered Orby, an anthropomorphic
world globe, and a William Shakespeare caricature who spoke in fl owery
Elizabethan language. The most bizarre character was Scuzz, a surly rodent
who took occasional bites of a package of rat poison, tormented Chaos
the cat, and dismissed the other guides as “losers.” (Oddly, there was no
character named Bob.)
Bob had at least a few fans. Wall Street Journal technology critic
Walter Mossberg lauded it as “a bold departure that attempts to give nontechnical
people more control over their computers. . . . It’s better than
cursing at the screen and feeling stupid.” Reviewer Jack Warner of the
Austin American- Statesman, in contrast, noted acidly that “I tend to resent
small dogs or birds crouching in the lower right corner of the monitor
throwing incessant balloons full of advice onto the screen.”
Bob had one telling technical flaw. Since the program still required
Microsoft Windows to remain running as well, it taxed the then-puny