The most popular toy of 1998 was somewhat adorable and somewhat disturbing. It couldn’t do much – couldn’t Anything, Really – but it can look at you, it can say some nonsense phrases, and it seems to be supernaturally aware of the world around it. That’s all Furby needed to take over the world.
The story of Furby is full of technological achievement. The fact that the cute little guy ever worked was a bit of a surprise to many of the people involved. But Furby also represents a different way of thinking about our relationship with technology, a different idea about human-computer interaction, and perhaps a path worth following for AI companies everywhere.
on this issue of version history, We tell the story of Furby, from its roots in an off-grid home in California to the top of the toy pile. David Pierce, Victoria Song, and Shawn Hollister look at the early ideas behind the toy, try and figure out how it became the next big thing before most people even touched it, and how the unusual approach to programming and personality enabled it to work. It may be hard to remember now, but people loved His furbie friends. We have some ideas about what this might mean for the future.
This is the first episode of the third season of version history, Which means we’ll have five more episodes for you over the next five Sundays. Here’s how to get every episode and all our other fun stuff as soon as it drops:
If you want to learn more about the history of Furby and the remarkable technology inside that strange little gremlin, here are some links to get you started:
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