I got this interesting email from Microsoft today
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Hi there,
I am Microsoft Word. And I turn 25 this year.
I belong to a hallowed family otherwise called the Microsoft Office Suite. And I am, interestingly, THE OLDEST MEMBER! All of us in the family have constantly reinvented ourselves, and today we are fondly called (thanks to the folks at the tony Redmond offices) Microsoft Office 2007. Naturally pretty much everyone knows me, and I am quite iconic (even if I have to say so myself, because I know there are others trying to copy my style)
So on this momentous occasion (that Microsoft folks call my ‘Silver Jubilee’ – tsk tsk) I’d like to talk to you a bit about myself
I was born, rather awkwardly, in October 1983. My parents were I hear, Charles Simonnyi and Paul Allen. Who were these guys? Charles was the father of Xerox Bravo too - the world’s first word processor – and I understand that Charles wanted to ‘cast me in Bravo’s mould’. So anyway, when he met Paul Allen at Microsoft in 1981, sparks and ideas flew around and they decided to start a family of database, spreadsheet, and word processor applications. They called the family Microsoft Xenix, but gave me a weird name “Multi-tool Word”. Thankfully I was soon rechristened Microsoft Word. [Microsoft Word for Xenix was released for MS-DOS in October 1983] By 1985, my folks gifted me different font types, sizes, and weights. I was elated, I mean you know how it is when you are young – always wanting to accessorize and stay chic. Oh and Talking about folks’ grandiosity, my 6th birthday was an exciting event of my life; imagine walking around with a full mouse-driven interface, drop-down menus, which I hear were my most admired features. I was truly owner’s pride
Then came another year, another birthday…but this one was special – I was re-named. What do we call it in India? Nam-Karan. I was no longer named after the number of avatars but instead got the year associated with me, much to my chagrin! Who wants to show his age? But as long as my fans can remember me better. J Then came an interesting companion in life. Remember Clippit? The talking, dancing paperclip with slanted eyes, who spied on your progress and insisted on telling you what you were doing? Well I enjoyed his company; he was kind of funny but won’t deny he did get a bit irritating sometimes! And as I hear, users loathed him. Well, even though he was a well-intentioned lovable bloke, I had to bid him adieu (by popular demand) – but I used some of his ideas, and, so from 2002 onwards I have ‘task panes’ to help users.
Circa 2005: I am a firm believer in aging gracefully and so were the folks at Redmond. So imagine our combined horror when we realized I was getting bloated with features and too heavy to handle. So in 2006, some major diet and fitness programs later – voila – there emerged a new improved me - friendlier, lighter, and very very agile! I began to sport a new ribbon on my forehead to help folks get through their tasks more easily. I like it, and I know all of you do too. Cool huh? J
At 25, I’ve had an eventful life so far. And I simply love helping people go about their daily jobs. I mean, people now take me for granted most times, and I don’t mind it. I just like to be around – like a familiar, comfortable friend you can depend on.
I’ve gone on too long, but thank you for going through my story. Happy to make your acquaintance all over again
Cheers,
Word 2007
Microsoft
(Oh and I can insert my digital signature here as well)
