Clippy's Demise

[Tom Johnson <johnsont -at- starcutter -dot- com>]

Just read this in the NY Times. Clippy is about to become one of the 
dot.com unemployed. Microsoft is beginning an ad campaign to announce that 
Office XP (eX Paper clip) will use a much less intrusive help system. It 
seems as though MS is finally listening to users who have clamored about 
feature bloat and is working hard to make the Office software simpler to 
use.

For a TW tie-in, help agents have not lived up to their expectations and 
frequently get in the way of the task people are trying to perform. 
Something to think about with any type of documentation.


"Humor Is at Center of Microsoft's New Campaign

"Add Clippy, Microsoft's obnoxious on-screen paper clip, to
the list of dot-com employees who will soon be searching for
new jobs."

For the whole story, here is the URL. You may have to register to use the 
nytimes site.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/11/technology/11ADCO.html

Tom Johnson
Technical Writer
Elk Rapids Engineering Div., Star Cutter Company

johnsont -at- starcutter -dot- com - work
thomasj -at- freeway -dot- net - personal


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