Ms. Dewey
Ms. Dewey was a web search engine by Microsoft, first unveiled in October 2006. Ms. Dewey was an Adobe Flash–based experimental interface for Live Search, where the eponymous Ms. Dewey, played by actress Janina Gavankar, acted as an interactive search assistant for the user's inquiries. Ms. Dewey notably would audibly comment on searched keywords, and she would also perform a variety of random actions when idle, including taking props out from behind her desk. Furthermore, a cityscape featured behind Ms. Dewey would appear to change depending on the time of day.
.png.webp) The Ms. Dewey interface | |
Type of site | Search engine |
|---|---|
| Owner | Microsoft |
| Created by | McCann-Erickson San Francisco, Sausage Films and EVB |
| URL | www.msdewey.com |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | No |
| Current status | Inactive |
Ms. Dewey was developed by advertising agency McCann-Erickson and digital content marketing firm EVB San Francisco. Gavankar's responses, consisting of 600 different video clips, were recorded over the course of three days.[1][2][3][4]
Ms. Dewey became inactive in January 2009.
Notes and references
- Cole, Sean (2006-12-13). "Spending time with Ms. Dewey". Marketplace. American Public Media. Archived from the original on 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
- Kirkpatrick, David (December 11, 2006). "Rich Geeks in Paradise", pp 26–28. FORTUNE.
- Personal website http://www.janinagavankar.com
- Miriam E. Sweeney (2013). "Not just a pretty (inter)face: A critical analysis of Microsoft's 'Ms. Dewey'" (PDF). University of Illinois. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-02. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
As one of my co-workers typed in different words and phrases, the "Ms. Dewey" character (pre-recorded film footage of actress, Janina Gavankar) engages in flirtatious banter, sometimes becoming irritated or condescending if too much time passes before entering a search term: "Hellloooo... type something here!"