THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 13, 1995 TAG: 9502130210
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: DOUBLECLICK
SOURCE: Richard Grimes and Roger Grimes
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
Richard: Everyone's got Bob on the brain and we're no exception. Bob, of course, is an innovative new Windows shell program from everyone's favorite underdog, Microsoft.
Roger: Bob is innovative in two ways. First, Bob replaces the Windows interface with a more natural metaphor, your house. Instead of seeing icons or a file tree on your screen when you boot up your computer, you see a comfortable family room with a roaring fire. Different objects sitting on the shelves and tables in the room represent different programs. Though this first room can be used by everyone, each user in your ``house'' can have her own room and can customize that room with whatever furnishings or programs she would like.
Richard: It's like the Bill Gates version of Barbie's Malibu Playhouse.
Roger: There's more to it than that. The second innovation is Microsoft's use of what it calls a social interface. Every user gets to pick one of twelve cartoon guides - a kind of animated helper - who gives advice when you need it. The guides include the overly helpful dog Rover, Blythe the friendly firefly, and the reluctant cat Chaos.
Richard: Don't forget your ``really unimpressed brother Richard''.
Roger: The current Bob will not impress anyone looking for business software. It's a kinder, gentler package for home use. But I also think that Bob will eventually take over the world - the business portion included.
If a technical person like Richard is not impressed with Bob, it's probably because it's too simple. Simple is a good thing. Bob, or an interface like it, is destined to replace file folders and directory trees.
Richard: I, of course, think that Roger has been sniffing vaporware, so we had to come up with some sort of litmus test to see whether Bob could cut the mustard. In a moment of sheer Wile E. Coyote super genius thinking, we came up with a solution: If Microsoft is going to throw Bob at us, we're going to throw Dad right back at it.
Roger: By Dad, we mean Sonny Grimes, firefighter captain and average home computer user.
Richard: We picked Dad as a Bob test subject because he's an average user and doesn't even care who Bill Gates is. Plus, we really liked the image of a 6-foot-4, 240 pound firefighter hunched over a computer interfacing with Blythe the friendly firefly.
Roger: It took Dad less than 20 minutes to learn the ins and outs of Bob. He started by giving the program pertinent information about himself, like his address and date of birth and quickly set up his own private attic room which only he could access. Later he remodeled the room with one of Bob's pre-supplied architectural ``looks''and set up objects in the room that represented the programs he wanted to use. Dad liked the fact that the guides helped him through every task.
Plus, each menu had choices that made sense. Instead of a setup menu, Bob had choices like ``change something'' or ``add something.'' Whether he wanted to change his helper or change the look of his room, he knew where to go. Dad appreciated the simplicity.
Richard: I think Dad mostly appreciated being able to set up a room Mom couldn't get into.
Let me add a few notes for people tempted to invite Bob over. First of all, realize that Bob is a hungry guest. He needs at least a 486 with eight megs of RAM before he'll even come over and he'll gulp down 30 megabytes of hard drive faster than you can say hors d'oeuvre. Even then, Bob spends so much time accessing your hard disk, it'll sound like the drumbeat on a bad disco record.
Roger: A lot of that hard drive space is dedicated to the eight programs that come bundled with Bob. These programs, which include a checkbook program and letter writing program, all use the Bob interface and work beautifully together because of it.
Richard: Dad, though, didn't like the cartooniness of the helpers. He wanted the help they gave, but resented having to get it from a cutesy dog or a fluffy cat. In fact, he said it made him feel as if Microsoft thought he was a 3-year-old.
By the end of the hour, Dad and I were looking for some sort of Bob flyswatter so that we could swat Blythe the friendly firefly. No such luthem.
Richard: Dad and I didn't like the cartoons, but we both loved the help we got from Bob's social interface. If anything, we felt Bob didn't go far enough.
At some points, like when Dad wanted to browse for a file, Bob dropped him like an ugly boyfriend into the unforgiving arms of Windows 3.1.
Roger: That problem may already be solved. Bob, though it will work on the current version of Windows, is meant to run on top of Windows95. Some of Bob's power will depend on how good that program is.
Richard: That's really my major beef with Bob. We're on the verge of finally getting rid of this weirdo two layer code cake consisting of the DOS operating system and the pseudo-shell Windows. What does Microsoft think we want? Another shell to go on top of the operating system? Thanks, but no thanks. Just give us Windows95 - before you have to change the name again.
Heads Up: Data is disappearing off some of your disks even as you read this. Who's at risk? How can you protect yourself? Tune in next week, Bytefans. MEMO: Dad's visionary, Bob-loving son can be reached at grogeratinfi.net
Dad's clearer-thinking son can be reached at rgrimesatinfi.net
by CNB