Do you remember… Clippy?

“It looks like you’re writing a letter. Would you like help?” You weren’t. Or you were, and you didn’t want help, least of all from a paperclip with eyebrows.

Officially it was called Clippit, one of the Office Assistants Microsoft added to Office 97 to help people who were new to computers. In practice it popped up at the worst possible moments, tapped on the glass, wriggled about and guessed wrong with total confidence. Nobody ever called it Clippit.

Microsoft got the message. By Office XP in 2001 the assistant was switched off by default, and when Office 2007 arrived it had gone for good. Clippy became the computer world’s favourite example of help that doesn’t help.

And yet, people grew fond of it. It’s turned up in jokes, costumes and fan art ever since. Somewhere deep down, part of you misses that paperclip. You don’t have to admit it.