Meet BOB

Something familiar

Published on April 19, 2005 By lilstarfish In Community

Just stumbled across this link and thought people would find it interesting

"You may have heard jokes about some old failed Microsoft product called "Bob" or seen that big yellow smily face wearing nerdy glasses, and wondered "what the heck was that all about?".

Well, in early 1995 Microsoft released a software program called "Bob" designed to replace the desktop of Windows 3.1 and 95 with an interface designed mainly for novice users.

Microsoft held a big advertising campaign and loaded up stores with copies of Bob expecting huge sales. It totally flopped.

A few possible reasons that Bob flopped:

* Bob required a minimum of a 486 with 8 megs of ram, 30 megs of free disk space, and 256 color VGA. Many computers of the day did not meet these minimum requirements.
* It was too "cute" for the average PC users of the day.
* Most people at the time who wanted ease of use would just get a Macintosh.
* Bob was not useful enough to justify its initial sale price of almost $100.
* Windows 95, which was released later that year, had the new Windows Explorer user interface which wiped the floor with Bob."

Read the interesting story by following the link =D

There's an uncanny feeling of deya vu about the images there

Comments

PurrBall

on Apr 19, 2005

I just posted an article about this.

BOB is one of the most annoying things invented.

If you really want it, you can visit my article (just do a search for bob) and click on the free download link.

It's a complete timewaster. Feels like 'The Sims.'

Halluci

on Apr 19, 2005

hmm... that "Public Family Room" reminds me of a dx theme i saw a while back... in fact, its almost identical... i cant remember what the theme was though.

PurrBall

on Apr 19, 2005

i cant remember what the theme was though

BOB XP by Frogboy. Using it for almost a week.

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thomassen

on Apr 19, 2005

I agree that Bob and the other desktop companions aren't perticulary useful. But I still think the ideafor the attempt is a good one. Trying to make computers more personal so it won't alienate new users. I won't argue with the outcome though.

tlb123

on Apr 19, 2005

it keeps my little brothers and sisters busy...

Halluci

on Apr 20, 2005

The only thing i liked about the whole setup was the vectorized graphics... if only they could implement a full color version of that into windows xp (they supposedly are going to do that for longhorn)...

FilkoSE

on Apr 20, 2005

A few possible reasons that Bob flopped:

You should add a stupid name as the first reason, if you asked me...

Seriously, who in the name of god came up with that one?

PurrBall

on Apr 20, 2005

It was a worker at MS's name

Phoon

on Apr 20, 2005

remember the nasty Packard Bell Interface? I can't remember the name of it, but it too was vile.

GhoS

on Apr 20, 2005

I think it would have stood a better chance of success with a better name for sure. However it was ahead of its time. Trying to do something that just wasn't feasible with computers of its day. Something like that might at least stand a better chance of success now. Many are getting into computers who didn't before, but are still afraid of the interface. It would give them an easier transition I think.
Of course this is where DesktopX comes in. Just need a way for OEM's to add its functionality and make a desktop for newbies.

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