You may have heard about Microsoft's new "Bob" interface, a cartoon world designed to protect computer phobics from the horrors of Microsoft Windows. (Windows, as you may recall, was supposed to shield users from the horrors of Microsoft DOS.) If the radio spots for "Bob" are any indication, this dip presides over a very creepy world. The radio ad with the folk-music theme promotes friendliness in all digital affairs and features a smarmy voice-over: "Bob is always glad to make a new friend." It led me to think immediately of "Bob Roberts", the banjo-strumming, hard-right candidate portrayed on the big screen by Tim Robbins. Some ad exec with a very dark sense of humor really did a job on Microsoft this time. And I'll bet Bill Gates doesn't even get it. As for a user-friendly alternative to the headache that is Windows, we already have one: Macintosh.
David Plotnikof - San Jose Mercury News - 7 April 1995