WEBVTT - What about (Microsoft) Bob? 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:07.000 Get in touch with technology with tex Stuff from how 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:16.280 stuff dot com Either everyone, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.200 I'm Jonathan Strickland and I'm Lauren Obama. Today we're going 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:21.680 to talk about something that a listeners sent in. This 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:25.280 is JP from New Jersey who wrote, Hey, Jonathan and Lauren, 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.040 I wanted to see if you guys would consider doing 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:31.160 a podcast about history success, parentheses, Sara kas and closed 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:35.279 their entheses, and eventual downfall of Microsoft. Bob keep up 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:39.320 the great shows. Thanks JP. We're gonna tackle Bob and 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.000 we're gonna wrestle him to the ground and probably give 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.360 him noogies. But then so did the rest of the world. Yeah, 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:49.040 if you don't know what Bob is, don't feel badly 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:52.239 about it. It was one of the biggest flops in 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:55.720 Microsoft history, I think, one of the biggest flops and 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:58.360 kind of history period. Time did this list of the 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:02.639 fifty worst inventions ever Time Magazine. Time Magazine, Yeah, back 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.279 in back, and Bob was on there. I mean, along 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:09.920 with like tanning beds and hydrogen blimps. Yeah, hydrogen blimps 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:14.399 not such a great thing Microsoft. Bob possibly worse. It's 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:18.080 killed killed fewer people killed fewer people, but people dreams 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:21.600 died that day when Microsoft Bob came out that this 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:23.840 was an interface for Windows three point one, and then 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.520 later came out, yeah it was. It was also for 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.880 Windows in t So here's the thing, here's the thing. 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:34.160 We're talking about era where the personal computer is starting 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:36.520 to get some serious traction but still is not in 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:39.759 most homes. In fact, Microsoft, when they were talking about 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:43.360 designing Bob and the launch of Bob, they were predicting 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.440 that by I think it was seven that PCs would 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.200 be in forty six percent of households, and and and 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:51.400 this was that this was a forty six percent in 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:55.400 the incredible future. The idea of being is a really 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.440 big number that Microsoft is crazy to think that that 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.920 many people would have computers. Well, the problem that Microsoft 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.000 had identified as something that they needed to solve with 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:10.400 brute force is that that someone who is unfamiliar with 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.560 computers might find the operation of such a device to 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:17.040 be intimidating and difficult, and the learning curve might be 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.720 too too steep for your average person who was not 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:24.080 already familiar with computers. And certainly before Windows three point 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.320 one came out, when it was just doss on say 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:32.360 just doss operation. You know, I'm simply saying that it 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:34.840 was perhaps not the most friendly thing to greet a 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.600 person just just lines of code on a screen. I 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.720 didn't need a friend, I needed an operating system. That's 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:42.679 what Does gave me. And that's kind of that is 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:45.040 kind of what what McIntosh was doing at the time. 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.320 And and and Apple was was kind of kicking a 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.799 lot of button that arena because they were giving people 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.880 something more friendly, more user friendly, and a little bit 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.519 more intuitive, right and keep in minding of course, Apple 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:59.400 had a big jump on other computers because the Apple 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:03.600 to a very popular personal computer among mostly hobbyists and 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.040 people who were interested in computers. Because again that was 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:08.239 that was in the line command days, we had the 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:12.120 type stuff in is when Apple introduced the Macintosh and 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.320 the graphics user interface. Apple of course was not the 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.240 the company to invent the graphic excuser interface, but they 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.880 were the first ones to really successfully implement it in 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.480 a personal computer platform, and people liked it. It was 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:27.760 one of those things where things just made more sense. 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:30.040 It was it was it was a little more intuitive 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.760 than having to type and memorize all these different commands 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:34.880 that you would type into just get your computer to 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:40.000 do stuff. Well, Microsoft wanted to kind of um create 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:42.440 its own graphic unit user interface, and that was the 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.920 genesis of the Windows program. But even then they thought, 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:48.920 there's gotta be a way of making this simpler for 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.760 the average person. Now, to really look at the development 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:53.440 of Bob, you have to go back a few years 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:56.120 before Bob was a thing. And so back in nine 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:02.040 Microsoft launched a program called Microsoft Publisher. It's a desktop 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:05.840 publishing program and it was the first program from Microsoft 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:09.240 that included Wizards. Now, wizards are not you know, it's 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.360 not Harry Potter coming out and waving a wan saying 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:17.840 regard um leviosa or a laho mora or uh avauta cadavera. 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:22.320 It's instead a little a little help pop up. Yeah, 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.719 that's supposed to guide you through a complicated process step 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:28.560 by step. So this was a big help for someone 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.000 who maybe was not familiar with this particular process or 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:36.040 very rarely used it. And uh and could just follow 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:38.640 along on the directions as opposed to having to thumb 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:42.480 through a four page manual, right and and and Microsoft 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.279 Publisher was was pretty popular. It was designed by Karen 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.880 Fries and Barry Lynnette, Yeah, and Karen Fryes is going 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:49.919 to become important in a little bit and uh. And 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:52.440 right when when they were you know, they had finished 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:54.039 with publisher, it was out in the world, it was 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.159 doing great, and they were like, what else can we do? 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.679 What is our next project? We want to keep helping newbs. 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:00.800 I'm not sure if Neubs was a yeah, no, but 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.279 that's that's that's exactly you know, we're going to translate 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:05.679 it for the kids of today. We're really the kids 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:09.200 of about six seven years ago. But anyway, yes, uh, 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.559 they wanted to continue to develop software that would help 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.919 people who otherwise would be unfamiliar and maybe intimidated by software. 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.800 So that's when they started to look into the possibility 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:26.880 of developing a full graphics user interface designed with these 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.880 nudes in mind. Originally they were calling it Data Wizard, 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.839 and then that eventually had the code name Utopia, but 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.359 by the time it was finally going to launch, it 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.880 had of course changed to Microsoft Bob is designed as 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.320 an alternative interface, as as Lauren said earlier, for Windows 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:48.240 three point one and even Windows and Team It's supported 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:53.320 programs designed for Bob, so it supported its own programs 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.440 designed for that operating system or rather that user interface. Uh. 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:02.560 It also supported Windows programs and supported DOS programs. So 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.400 the idea was that this would be able to support 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.760 anything that a person would want to run on a PC. 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:11.520 So but but you know, through through this filter that 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:15.159 would allow people who are unfamiliar with computers to to 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:17.680 set everything up the way they would want it, you know, 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:22.200 with with minimum complication. Right. So, so Karen Fries became 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:26.599 the the project lead for this particular project. The lead 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.800 developer was a guy named Gabe Newell. Do you recognize 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.039 that name? Gabe Newbell. Newell was one of the co 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:36.599 founders of Valve. Yeah. So Gabe Newell also, uh, someone 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:40.159 who in his post Microsoft years, which are the last 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.480 like two and a half decades, has been, um, well, 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.280 I guess I should they the last two decades, has 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.960 been more than a little critical of his old company. Uh. 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:53.840 He's He's definitely leveled some pretty hefty criticisms against some 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:58.480 major Microsoft releases. But he worked on on Microsoft Bob. 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:02.119 Maybe that's what kind of left a certain, uh bad 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.720 taste in his mouth or something. I can see that. Uh. 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.840 And the the person at Microsoft who was kind of 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.480 overseeing the whole thing. Who was guiding it was uh. Well, 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.440 when she first started working on the project, her name 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.080 was Melinda French, but then kind of in the middle 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.320 of it, she became Melinda Gates. Yes, so Bill Gates's wife. 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:26.040 Melinda was the head of the whole marketing marketing side. 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.160 But also, you know, she was essentially kind of like 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:30.680 the face. She was a cheerleader and it certainly yeah, 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:35.280 which which led some people to suggest, perhaps snarkily or 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:39.200 maybe not even perhaps snarkily definitely that the reason why 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.440 Bob went as far as it did was because of 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.440 who was behind it, as opposed to the merits of 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:49.640 the operating system. But let's be fair, the idea behind 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:53.000 Bob was solid. It was a solid idea of let's 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:58.320 create something that is very accessible and intuitive and comforting, 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:02.840 and and they try to use some really hard data 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.480 to support their design decisions. They actually uh contacted a 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:10.520 couple of professors from Stanford to act as project consultants, 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:15.200 Clifford Nas and Byron Reeves, and they their their area 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:17.800 of specially it was figuring out, well, how how do 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.880 people communicate, how do they access information, how do they 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:25.920 process information? And their point of view is that the 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:29.920 more natural you can make an interaction, the more readily 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.360 someone will understand it and adapt and want to interact 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.000 with it. Exactly, So you have to create an environment 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:41.480 that it just it feels natural and makes sense. Now, 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:46.719 that's obviously a very a very clear motivation. I mean, 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:51.000 we we've seen that in products since I think the 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.880 iPad is a great example of that. It was a 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:57.600 design where it's very intuitive to use. You give an 0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:00.560 iPad to a kid, that kid masters the iPad and 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.600 no time flat, without ever having to ask how something works. Yeah, 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:06.840 they've they've they've done those those great studies in in 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.800 Africa with kids who can't even read, have never been 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:11.760 exposed to anything like this before, and they just take 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.000 off with it. Yeah. So I mean that that's sort 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.040 of the idea here. They wanted to design something that 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.800 had that same sort of approach and appeal so that 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:25.400 they could help people who otherwise would be intimidated by computers. 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:30.600 So on January seven, Bill Gates took the stage at 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:34.280 c E S and unveiled Bob. He showed off also 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:37.480 a future project that was Bob related, called p D, 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.040 which was a c G I parrot that could respond 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:46.199 to verbal requests. And then on March thirty one, they 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:52.040 released Microsoft Bob Ah. The full retail price if you're 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.959 buying the full thing was as but it mostly sold 0:09:56.000 --> 0:10:00.559 that around ninety, which still pretty expensive soft. Yeah yeah, 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.200 and by comparison today, due to inflation, that that would 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:06.240 be worth about a hundred and forty so whereas Windows 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.560 eight costs about ninety on the market. Yeah, yeah, so 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.160 it definitely was a little expensive. It said on the 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.640 box that did not come with a manual, but it 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.640 came with a manual, or at least it was called 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:20.160 Bob's Magazine, so it was trying to be packaged not 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:22.520 as manual, but it was a twenty nine page list 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:26.760 of instructions. And uh, did you hear about Microsoft Press 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.680 and the book that they published. I did not what happened? 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.559 They published a book called At Home with Bob At 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.040 Home with Bob, which was a companion guide, and it 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:39.920 was two hundred and ten pages long. Goodness, migracious, that's 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.320 a lot of guide for something that doesn't need a 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:45.800 guy tot all. Yeah, that's when you don't need a guide, 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.800 you go wholeheartedly down to your Microsoft I teased them. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.600 I certainly couldn't build a graphics user interface at all. 0:10:54.920 --> 0:11:02.400 So let's talk about what Bob was really like? What? What, how? How? How? 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.679 What kind of operating our user interface was it? Just 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:09.080 just for perspective, real quick, um, Bob was was dead 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:11.840 in the water by early To give you an idea 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.120 of how well this went, Microsoft pulled the plug in 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:17.240 nineties six. So when it went less than a full 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:21.080 year before, Microsoft said all right, this is this is 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.600 not gonna work. And we'll get into why they made 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.760 that decision. And some people might even argue that it 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:30.559 was kind of a like the deck was stacked against them, 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:34.560 that that Bob was not as horrible as it but 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.280 it was given credit for I disagree for one major reason, 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:40.880 but I'll get into that in the in a little 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.640 bit later in the podcast. So, so here we have 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.439 the idea. The whole idea is let's create a graphics 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:51.240 user interface. It's very relatable and easy to use and 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:56.320 and intuitive. How did Microsoft go about it? What was Bob? 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:01.040 Bob was a it was a how it was? It was? 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.560 You you enter Bob's house, and in Bob's house there 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:08.600 are visual representations of everything that you would hypothetically want 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:11.880 to do with your computer exactly, Like like there's a 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.760 there's a living room that you're looking into, right, so 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:17.079 and so Instead of a desktop where you have icons 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:21.439 that you click on, you're looking into a clip art 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:26.000 living room. Vector graphics. Yes, two and fifty six colors, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:30.040 super fancy. Yeah. If if you don't, if you've never 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:35.920 seen pictures, link them, it's spectacular. Anyone who's used any 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:39.000 of the old Microsoft Office products that had lots and 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:40.800 lots of clip art in them, and you've looked through 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.920 those clip arts and you've thought, wow, that's what Bob 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:45.360 was made up of. And there was a lot of 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.840 animation involved. Every everything was kind of cute. See, yes, 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:52.160 everything was very cartoonish. And you have a personal assistant, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.319 a series of personal assistants, and the one that it 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.360 came the standard one, the one that would just be 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:01.720 there as soon as you started up, was Rover Retriever. 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:05.760 The personal assistance would later come into play in versions 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:09.160 of Microsoft Office, like Microsoft Office nineties seven. We'll get 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:14.000 into that too. So, um, anyway, you're that your guide 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:15.960 when you first start off as Rover Retriever. You could 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.160 change him later and I think that'll be fun to 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.480 talk about when we get into the features list. It's exciting. Yeah, 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.320 I got I got a couple of things I want 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.319 to say about some of those those guys. But before 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:27.680 we do that, I want to I want to talk 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:33.840 about what it was like to first enter. So so 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:36.360 I'm just gonna I'm gonna paint you a picture with words. 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.760 So you you activate Microsoft Bob. You know, you've installed 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.080 it on your computer, assuming your computer could run it. 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.880 We'll get into that too, And when it first starts, 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.120 you are greeted by the sight of a big red door. 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:52.840 And in the center of that big red door is 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:57.439 a gold door knocker, and that door knocker says Microsoft 0:13:57.559 --> 0:13:59.840 Bob on it. So you have to click on the knocker, 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.319 which then makes the knocker knock on the door. And 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.040 you didn't have to have a sound card with Bob, 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:09.880 but it was recommended because there were many noises, so 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:13.480 many noises, including one such your personal assistant would occasionally 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.080 make at you. But you would knock on the door 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.760 and Rover retriever shows up and says, uh, hey, s 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:22.000 you're trying to break into my house. Actually, he says, 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:25.560 I know you're coming in. Uh click on who you 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.680 are and a little list pops up. Now on your 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.800 first visit, there's no one. You can't select a name 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:34.800 because you haven't gotten and registered one yet, so the 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.840 only choice that's there is guest. So guest was there 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:41.560 so that you could let a friend log in without 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.800 having to create a full account and use your computer 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:47.160 to do whatever, the same way that Windows works today. Right, 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.200 so you could click guests. But if you did click guests, uh, 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:54.400 then you would get another message from Rover whould say, 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:56.360 are you sure you don't want to go ahead and 0:14:56.400 --> 0:15:01.400 create a profile? Well I didn't really see that option earlier, 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:04.600 but sure, why not? Let's let's let's make a profile. 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.640 So Rover would then ask if you are new to 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:10.320 the home or if you had once been on the 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.800 list but now can no longer find your name on 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:14.960 the list because one of the things you can do 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.400 is add and remove people, or really you can remove 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:22.720 people from the list once you've joined it. So this 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:24.960 would be something like, let's say that you know you've 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.000 kicked your no good son out of the house because 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.400 he's thirty four and really he needs to go and 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:33.360 make his own way in the world. Now, I'm just 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.360 using this as a hypothetical. I don't have a kid, 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.240 and if I had a kid, it was thirty four. 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.640 I have a lot of explained to do. Anyway, So 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.000 you kicked your thirty four year old son out of 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:45.160 the house, and you've changed it. You've removed him from 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.400 Microsoft Bob, so if he does come back, he's not 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:49.120 gonna be able to use the computer. That would be 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.640 the reason for that, right, So you would have to 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.760 answer that question like are you new or were you 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.240 essentially kicked off? So let's say that you're new. You know, 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.080 this is your first time using Bob. You haven't alienated 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:03.640 yourself from your friends and family yet, So you click 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.840 on new. Then it asks you to enter in your 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:12.320 first name, your preferred name, your last name, your hometown, 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.680 your birthday, and your gender, which you could set to 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:20.360 not telling. But every yea, every single field required you 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:23.360 gotta film and and this will come back later because 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:27.160 these little these little cartoon guides needed to know things 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:31.680 about you so that they could talk to you about Stuffy. Yeah, 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:35.320 they did, So you filled this part out. Now you're 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.360 prompted to create a password for your account. And one 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:40.000 of the funny things I thought about this was that 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.960 it actually explains to you what the asterisks are as 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.360 you type in your password. You know how the password 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:48.000 field starts filling up with asterisks, because if it showed 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.160 you in plain text what the password was, that wouldn't 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.200 be very secure. Yeah, someone staying behind you could see it, 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:57.080 and so it actually explains that concept in But again, 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:00.520 Bob's design for people who are brand new to compute, right, No, no, 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.080 I I can see someone, um you know, for for example, 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.560 my grandmother plays a lot of solitaire, but is mostly 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:08.560 confused about other things on computers that could be useful. Right, 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.600 So so yeah, if you're sitting there thinking, wait, I 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.879 didn't hit the asterisk button, why is that popping up, 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:16.280 it would actually explain it to me. It sounds silly 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.639 simply because I've been using computers for so long it's 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.720 hard for me to even imagine that. But then again, 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.000 I was not the target market for Bob. Uh, I'm 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.120 not sure who was. So then after that point, after 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:30.640 you created it, you had to type in your password 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.800 a second time. Uh, And if you misstype the password 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:35.399 the second time, you would get a prompt telling you 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.439 that it did not match the first password, and you 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.200 had to try again that's going to become really important 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.640 in a little while. So next you would then, once 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.560 you get through the password creation process, you would enter 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.840 in your actual address and time zone, so not just 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:52.639 your hometown, your full address. And again it's required, so 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:53.879 you had to put the whole thing in there and 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.359 the time zone that you are in. Then you would 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.959 have to create at least one private room. So remember 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.720 Bob is a house. Most of those rooms in that 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.119 house are public when it starts off, which means that 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:10.520 anyone who joins on your computer can access those public rooms. 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:12.400 But if you wanted to create a private room where 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.840 only your stuff would be, like you know, programs that 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.560 you only want to have access to, you could do that. 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:21.760 Um So, if if you wanted to access a private room, 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:24.280 you would have to be logged in under that I 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:27.479 d so uh Lauren would not be able to go 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:31.119 into my room because of that, except we'll talk about 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:34.480 how she totally could do that pretty soon. And then 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:39.000 finally the last step would be that you would it 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.280 would ask you if it wanted to import other programs 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:45.720 besides the Bob programs that came standard with Microsoft Bob. 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.440 So I would ask if you wanted to import Dawson 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:52.879 Windows programs. Uh. That step is absolutely necessary. If you 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:55.080 had completely lost your mind to decide to use Bob 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.160 as your graphics user interface for everything and say I'm 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:01.600 not using any other interface at all, just Bob, you 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.119 would need to be able to import those other programs. 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:08.920 So that's the that's the process of creating your Bob account. 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.600 We're going to talk about the the the different features 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:15.720 of Bob, the software that came with it, some of 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.080 these uh, some of these assistants everything. Once that door 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:21.960 opens and uh, and I'll start off with the big 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.560 security flaw right after we take a short break, all 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:27.919 right back to Bob. So you know I mentioned that 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:31.240 there was a big security flaw. So Lauren, UM, let's 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:36.360 say that you you have got Microsoft Bob. I've got 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:40.040 a profile on there. Password, You've created a profile, You've 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:42.560 created a password. Whenever you need to log in, you 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:45.440 have to put your password in and you have one 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:47.440 of the one of the pieces of software and we'll 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:49.320 talk more about them in a minute, but one of 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:52.200 the pieces of software there's is Bob is Bob's Checkbook. 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:55.200 The idea that's a financial software so that you can 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:58.920 you know manage your home finances. So presumably there could 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:02.040 be some pretty pretty private information in that. And let's 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:05.120 say you've you've thought of that, and you've actually put 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.920 that particular program in your private, private room. So yeah, 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:10.440 it's not in the public room, so I'm not gonna 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:14.440 just happen across it. If it were in a public room, 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.760 that would be bad. Um. But you've created your password 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:20.920 and everything, and then I think, huh, I really want 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.639 to learn what Lauren's bank account number is, so I 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:27.919 try and log in as Lauren. When you try and 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.080 log in and you don't have the right password, after 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.280 three attempts, it says, I, you know that's not the 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.639 right password. Do you want to reset your password? And 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:39.600 you say yes. Instead of it then taking you to 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.600 like sending an email or linking you somehow, there's because 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.440 it's looking for nubs. It's saying, well, I guess I'll 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:48.520 just let you reset your password right now. So I 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.199 could then reset Lauren's password, so not only would I 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:53.560 have access to her account, I would lock her out 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:56.320 have access to my account anymore. Wow, that's until you 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:58.240 tried to enter the password three times, and then you 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:00.560 could reset yourself, and so it essentially just become the 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:02.879 two of us resetting that password over and over and 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:04.479 over again until you gave up and said, I do 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:08.720 not want this on my computer. Huge, huge security flaw. 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:13.320 Nothing is private. Well yeah, that's uh, that's at the idea. 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:14.960 I had not heard about that part of it, and 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:17.280 that is very special. And I wouldn't even need to 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:19.679 have an account. I mean, all I would need is 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:22.240 access to your computer because just going in as a guest, 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:25.800 I could do that. And uh yeah, so there was 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:28.679 no such thing as privacy or security with Bob. It 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:33.880 had this just ridiculously massive vulnerability. Uh. And you might 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:36.000 as well not even have a password system at that point, 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:38.120 because if all it takes is three failed log ins 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:41.240 and then you can reset the password, that's that's like 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.360 having no password at all. Uh. Same sort of problems 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:49.640 existed with removing people from a list. So let's say that, um, 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:53.320 let's let's have an interesting hypothetical situation here. Let's say 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:55.640 that for some reason, how stuff works decides to switch 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:58.679