Geeks over a certain age will remember Microsoft Bob, Microsoft’s attempt to create a personal, easy-to-use computer interface. Microsoft Bob was universally panned, because it was designed for the lowest common denominator, and just set the lowest common denominator a little bit too low.

Ten years later, Microsoft has quietly introduced Ms. Dewey, a sassy Flash-based search engine interface. Ms. Dewey is everything that Microsoft Bob wasn’t – intelligent, fun, and full of personality.

Ms. Dewey (performed by actress Janina Gavankar) is a fully animated search assistant who comments and responds to your searches. Ask “her” about yo mama, and she’s likely to go off on you. Ask her how to meet babes, and she may respond “Save yourself – it’s not too late to meet a real woman!” or “Somebody needs to get a hobby….like something interesting!”

Ask her about Janina Gavankar, she’ll review her resume. Ignore her, and she’ll knock on the glass of your monitor and ask “Anyone there?”

And you never know when she’ll whip out the condoms and the riding helmet….

Yes – Microsoft just sexed up search.

So…”What’s the podcasting angle?” you wonder……

Ms. Dewey is everything the recently introduced Zune failed to be.

Ms. Dewey is a useful search engine, though not really exceptional in terms of results. But with Ms. Dewey, Microsoft avoided the urge to throw in bells and whistles, and instead focused on making search fun – virally fun.

Ms. Dewey turns search into entertainment, instead of just a stop on the way from here to there.

If Microsoft is smart, they’ll update Ms. Dewey over time to be more intelligent, even more sassy and to play on people’s personification of the service.

People would enjoy the surprise of seeing her in her jogging suit in the springtime, or in a Ms. Claus outfit at Christmas. Even more interesting would be having her offer commentary on current news while she waits for your searches.

The Zune needs Ms. Dewey

The Zune introduction, by most accounts, was a debacle. We’ve detailed this prevously.

If Microsoft married the personality of Ms. Dewey with the Zune, though, they could have something fun and really unique. The Zune has the hardware capabilities to display videos and connect wirelessly networks – why not make the Zune a funky window into the world of Microsoft’s web services?

With Ms. Dewey on the Zune, Microsoft could leverage its search technology – which is a key differentiator between it and Apple. The basic Ms. Dewey functionality would probably have to be pre-installed or synced onto the Zune – searches could use the Zune’s wireless capabilities. The most difficult task would be creating a usable way of easily entering queries.

And this is where podcasting comes in. Microsoft could use podcasting, or similar technology, to automatically sync the Zune with a Ms. Dewey web service, downloading new content each day so that the character could be current, topical and even comment on the day’s events. Ms Dewey, combined with timely synced updates, would make the Zune something more than an imitation iPod.

Ms. Dewey wouldn’t need to be limited to search, though. Microsoft could use this approach to make the idea of a PDA truly personal, adapting typical portable applications to give them the quirky animated interface.

And there’s no reason to stop with Ms. Dewey. If you wanted to know about the latest movies, Tom Cruise or Scarlett Johansson could handle your question, and tell you about their latest movie while they are at it. If you asked about golf, Tiger Woods could help you out. Ask about Microsoft, Bill Gates might take care of your question. The possibilities are endless.

As a search engine, Ms. Dewey probably will be a curiousity that will burn up hours of time at it spreads virally around the offices of the world.

As an idea, though – the idea that technology can be made fun and personal – Ms. Dewey may find that she has a long career ahead of her. Let’s hope that Microsoft finds a way to marry the attitude of Ms. Dewey with the portable technology of the Zune.

via Valleywag