4 ms·

I do think the hate is overblown and a little immature. Maybe it felt a little silly if you were already a computer expert in 1995, or just hated Microsoft in g

I do think the hate is overblown and a little immature. Maybe it felt a little silly if you were already a computer expert in 1995, or just hated Microsoft in general as was en vogue at the time, but the character served an important purpose. The Microsoft Office suite was huge, could be overwhelming, and still came with 20 pounds of printed manuals. Was the average user ever likely to discover the Letter Wizard or the Party Invitation Template? Clippy did do some analysis of the document you were typing and make some helpful suggestions to guide a new user around the program. And you could turn it off. Personally I will go to bat for Clippy and don’t think he deserves the derision.

romwell 4y ago
Clippy lives on... as GitHub Copilot. I hope they bring back the paperclip avatar too one day.
- ffhhj 4y ago
  Clippy has its own song: https://youtube.com/watch?v=b4taIpALfAo https://youtube.com/watch?v=b4taIpALfAo
- hulitu 4y ago
  It is very popular at Google also: error messages or warnings which obscure 25 % to 70 % of the screen without any possibility to close them.
Doxin 4y ago
> And you could turn it off. I distinctly recall it repeatedly turning itself back on.
- hef19898 4y ago
  Tunring on features again, against user configurations, is almost a best practice now.
  - andai 4y ago
    And not just in computing :(
  - tempodox 4y ago
    In that sense Microsoft “we know better than you” has conquered the world.
hulitu 4y ago
> I do think the hate is overblown and a little immature. It was one of the first examples of computer getting in your way and interfeering with your work. It was like your boss comming every 10 minutes with: " Are you ok ? Can i help you ? The first thing i did when installing office was turn office assistant off.
- tempodox 4y ago
  It's a perfect embodiment of that condescending and patronizing vibe that I get from everything Windows.
- blitzar 4y ago
  It looks like you are trying to tell an anecdote, can I help you with that?
xen2xen1 4y ago
Personally, is it immature to dump on clippy? Probably. But after the 10,000 time of that darn thing popping up and asking you a pointless question.. Yes, it gets annoying. I already know what I want to do, why are you harassing me? Did I ask for help? Then no, you're just getting in the way of my job.

romwell 4y ago

Clippy lives on... as GitHub Copilot. I hope they bring back the paperclip avatar too one day.

ffhhj 4y ago
Clippy has its own song: https://youtube.com/watch?v=b4taIpALfAo https://youtube.com/watch?v=b4taIpALfAo
hulitu 4y ago
It is very popular at Google also: error messages or warnings which obscure 25 % to 70 % of the screen without any possibility to close them.

Doxin 4y ago

> And you could turn it off. I distinctly recall it repeatedly turning itself back on.

hef19898 4y ago
Tunring on features again, against user configurations, is almost a best practice now.
- andai 4y ago
  And not just in computing :(
- tempodox 4y ago
  In that sense Microsoft “we know better than you” has conquered the world.

hulitu 4y ago

> I do think the hate is overblown and a little immature. It was one of the first examples of computer getting in your way and interfeering with your work. It was like your boss comming every 10 minutes with: " Are you ok ? Can i help you ? The first thing i did when installing office was turn office assistant off.

tempodox 4y ago
It's a perfect embodiment of that condescending and patronizing vibe that I get from everything Windows.
blitzar 4y ago
It looks like you are trying to tell an anecdote, can I help you with that?

xen2xen1 4y ago

Personally, is it immature to dump on clippy? Probably. But after the 10,000 time of that darn thing popping up and asking you a pointless question.. Yes, it gets annoying. I already know what I want to do, why are you harassing me? Did I ask for help? Then no, you're just getting in the way of my job.