Microsoft believed adding a human-like face ... If developers had indeed leaned into the basic concept of many memes about Clippy over the years, it would undoubtedly have been a winner.

Skype—the OG of online calls, the program that made you yell "Can you hear me now?!" at your monitor—is officially having the plug pulled on May 5, 2025.

But for those of us who remember using Microsoft Office in the nineties and early 2000s, the concept raises the specter of Clippy - the paper-clip-shaped, animated help tool that was supposed to ...