Along with Sister Mary Winword as an example of transcoding, we should place Clippy, perhaps better in his alias of “The Genius” (whom I used when I first started with Windows 2000 and called “Albert” before I got tired of his happy little wave).
These tools are in effect, “part of a new culture that blends human with computer” (Prof. J. Timmons, New Media class) and are but crude examples of this principle of New Media according to Lev Manovich’s “The Language of New Media.”
As Professor Timmons has pointed out, they also contain the element of “Variability” (Manovich) because they can exist in different versions (Clippy/The Genius, etc.), and can be user-chosen. I would also go so far as to say they may be considered “Modular” (Manovich) as they are part of the software program, and exist as a separate module that can be a part of the screen display or not, at the click of a button.
Professor Steve Ersinghaus has noted that Clippy–as himself, a paper clip–is a weird choice for a representation of a “help” file, as the paper clip as a sign meaning “attachment” had already been established, and thus we have been culturally coded to recognize it as such in the computer writing programs, e-mail, etc.
Having said this, who’s for turning Spellcheck into a graphical penguin?
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