Alas, since last month there is no more personal search assistant on the web, in the form of the charming Ms Dewey. She disappeared quite abruptly, without an goodbyes or even a notice or obituary. A banal, sluggy and rather ugly videoblock has taken her place and name on msdewey.com. I somehow feel violated…
Searching the internet is as much about the search as it is about the find. How many times have you not started to search for something online, only to end up finding something you did not set out to find. Or even to not find anything at all, but rather to keep on searching. For what, you may not even know.
Ms Dewey knew this. Searching is not about finding. It’s about the process of finding. She commented on your queries and results, encouraged you onwards, and mostly looked at you in a bemused manner. She knew that nobody was taking the search seriously.
Of course, Ms Dewey was a viral campaign, for Microsoft’s Live Search. Developed by McCann-Erickson. And now she’s been sacked; after 2 years of outstanding service. I can’t help to think the internet has lost some of its personality. It’s all about the finding again… or so they want us to believe.
Ms Dewey in better days.
