BonziBuddy - The Internet Spyware That Plagued Windows (Demonstration)
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- čas přidán 7. 03. 2021
- BonziBuddy (or "Bonzi Buddy") was a piece of internet spyware masquerading as a virtual assistant. It was created by Bonzi Software, a company that was once one of the most visited sites on the web but, through subsequent events, ended up meeting its massive downfall.
Depending on your age, your earliest memories of using a computer probably vary. Some of you might remember using the Apple IIc or watching Flash Animations, but I am sure that, for some of you watching this, your earliest memories are of this little guy (SHOW). It was in 1999 when the internet became home to this new computer program: BonziBuddy. Innocent looking enough, but what you probably didn’t know was that this cute virtual assistant was, at one point, responsible for more than $1 billion in punitive damages, but how?
Just like many pieces of malware and internet spyware, the software attracted many people with its seemingly useful features, with all its malevolent doings hidden within. It was designed to assist users during a time where mass-use and understanding of the internet was quite new, but in reality, the program was collecting user data for advertising purposes as well as contaminating Windows with irritating features and misleading system information. BonziBuddy was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or…purple gorilla clothing. But how was such a strange program able to do all of this? What is the story that gave BonziBuddy the legacy that it has today?
The events of this tale date all the way back to the mid 1990s, particularly during the prominence of Windows 95. Microsoft had gained tremendous success with its new operating system, marketing the product in a way that could appeal to the masses. Computers were no longer part of some niche community or only for businesses. Now, your grandmother could use a computer. When it came to design methodology, Microsoft made the bold move of making their target audience everyone. But now, it was time for them to make using the computer even easier, and they needed to figure out how. The answer was within their ambitious release of Office 97. Their approach with this program was strongly influenced by a research project from Stanford University conducted by Clifford Nass and Byron Reeves, theorizing that people subconsciously treat computers like human beings. Microsoft had to figure out a way to capitalize off this, and that is exactly what they did, with Introducing Office Assistant. Clippy was the answer to all your problems. Whether you have heard about it in retrospect or experienced it yourself, obviously this didn’t work. It seems that Microsoft took this research publication a little too literally. Clippy was universally hated and deemed way too distracting. It took a while for Microsoft to get the hint, and Clippy was ultimately removed from future Office versions in 2003, being mostly ignored during that stretch of time. Microsoft had been working on assistant technology for quite some time before Office 97, with Microsoft Bob for Windows 3.1, and its Microsoft Agent characters such as Peedy the parrot and Genie, sort of prototypes of Clippy.
What does this all have to do with BonziBuddy? Microsoft may have failed with Office Assistant, but other companies thought the idea still had potential and that they could do better. A couple years prior to Windows 95 was the formation of Bonzi software, created by brothers Joe and Jay Bonzi. Bonzi Software’s existence was the perfect concoction of timing and pretty brilliant marketing. They had popped up during a time where people didn’t really understand the internet, or know what direction it was going in. Bonzi Software didn’t really need a whole lot of ingenuity to become somewhat successful. What helped them take off was their voice-email application. Rather than sending text over email, you could send a voice recording of yourself! This might not seem very practical considering that you could just call somebody on the phone using the exact same phone line you use to get online, but it worked! This allowed them to create some other programs that would enhance your internet speed as well as protect your PC from potential security breaches.
In reality, they really didn't do anything other than basic system changes. By the time Clippy was popular, Bonzi Software had released the program all of you have been waiting for: BonziBuddy.
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As always,
NationSquid
Everything is no exept for "do you like me" question
Your cool
Hmmm, ok.
Nice vid by the way!😃
ok
I know this is promoting your second channel, but please do a video on the unsettling phenomenon of SMARTER CHILD on MSN Chat.
@Shanelle Connell this is very interesting. I'll check it out! :)
Imagine being a Bonzi's best friend as a kid and then out of nowhere he just stabbed you in the back
Me 😭😭
.
Bonzi: Thank you for being such a dear friend.
RIP 🥺
R.I.P Clippy
I would feel so betrayed if this cute mascot character ruined my computer
Bro same
It looks innocent for me idk why they saying it dangerous and i dont understand can someone tell me?
edit: i learned it now
Another edit: Tysm to ppl who told me
“Anikin, you were like a brother to me! I trusted you. You were supposed to save the :computer: not leave it in darkness!!!”
@@user-su4qi4ns2t just because it looks safe doesn’t mean it is
Top 10 biggest Anime betrayals
I remember having to tell my grandmother that bonzibuddy was a virus and we had to delete/uninstall it, she didn’t care that it slowed her computer, she liked the purple gorilla.
Gigachad, not like she was afraid of her data being stolen anyway
@@izaaak281lmao
based
TRUE
You: "no!!! You need to delete bonzi buddy it's an evil virus slowing down your computer"
Grandma: "haha, purple gorilla funny"
I love how BonziBuddy could tell fun facts like 20 years ago. Siri nowadays can't even do that.
“That may be beyond my abilities at the moment.”
depends on what you're expecting. BonziBuddy most likely had a list programmed into in and reciting that, often being uninteresting to you. Or a remote connection to a list.
We'd expect Siri to intelligently search the web for facts based on your personal interests.
He used to sing to us too! What a treat.
Yup confirmed
Any of you here ever heard of AI language models like Bing and ChatGPT?
Bonzi was the OG of stealing data before Facebook and Google became so popular lol
lol
haha.. oh wait hol up 👀
Give permission or forced to? There is a difference giving permission is a option and we can still use the service if we decline but we can’t use the service without giving that permission then we are being forced to give our data to use the service which isn’t right and is technically stealing our data
This was in the days before Windows Vista and those 'annoying' Administrator requirements and such. Back then Admin account only affect things like login and some program installations, but not when the program is already installed.
Wow original comment???????????????
"Spyware? Collecting my data and selling it? Invading *my* privacy for profit? The 90s must've been a scary time to be an internet user. Well, I should get off of CZcams. I've got homework to finish in Google Docs, on my chrome browser, on this chromebook that has been generously provided to me by my high school."
@Haoyuan Ma nope
@Haoyuan Ma ok…
Underrated comment lol
Nothing wrong
Was thinking this same thing lmao
I love how many adults back then would freak out over Bonzi buddy and were vehemently against it and are the reason it died. Now they’re even older giving away more information away from free to like Facebook daily
It's actually kinda sad that this is a virus. I would like a little buddy that can talk and has many useful features.
On my way to make this thing but without the virus oart
@@Asim_mangi yes please
@@Asim_mangi let us know when its done
As someone whose friend had this thing on his computer back in the day, it was more annoying than helpful, just like Clippy.
@@FuckGoogle502 oh, sad.
Funny how 30 years ago, A program collecting data was considered malware while today its perfectly fine.
Well, not totally fine
I d say there is still some ppl not being aware of it
Perfectly fine to the uneducated, perhaps.
@@x-raygamma .... Shhhhhh mark is listening......
and just like back then, we're giving the data away freely. People confuse me sometimes.
Well at least today there aren't annoying pop ups and it doesn't crash your computer
I refuse to ignore the “Wonkas Willy” word document on his desktop
"There is no earthly way of knowing, where the willy is really going."
wait what-
@Opposinn Dog "and cannalism, my dear children, is in fact frowned upon in most societies"
MOST
@Opposinn Dog "Hello, world!"
@Opposinn Dog "oompa loompa dubooty dum.... I got an knife and its pointed at you"
The fact this cleverly disguised piece of malware is still entertaining after all these years is a real tribute to the Bonzi bros
Mannnn I remember getting beat for putting "viruses" on the computer yet my parents were the ones downloading these things. Jeez. Me going to the barbie website to play games really is what killed the family PC, huh mom? 😂
I didn’t get beat but I sure as shit got blamed for any virus we got. One almost bricked our PC and I got the blame. Turns out it was from some “free theme backgrounds” my mom had downloaded 😂
My mom was convinced that Wizard101 was causing the viruses on her computer. This is the woman who would download anything in an email without question. Parents just assumed it was us kids ruining their tech because they couldn't fathom that it may have been their fault.
some parents are proof that wisdom does not come with age 😭
@@fbidumbbee and some parents prove that sometimes virginity ain't such a bad thing
@@ozwellespencer955on god.
he also would ask you to buy "bananas" for him through the store and if you said no would pout and freeze up your computer. weird stuff. great childhood memories of accidently making bonzi mad.
I really wanna see this lol
@@WishfulLPS yeah lmao
I wanna see that but then again it's dangerous
@@IheartbreadcuzyesxD actually it's not that dangerous compared to the apps we already have now
@@IheartbreadcuzyesxD nothing about it is dangerous lmao, stuff that we all have on our computers by default these days is far worse.
Bonzi: "WeLl HeLlO tHeRe"
Squid: (very politely) "ᴴᵉˡˡᵒ"
ᴴᵉˡˡᵒ
ᴴᵉˡˡᵒ
@@doggo_woo h
hello mario
hello
In middle school, circa 1999, we all installed BonziBuddy on the school computers because it had a text-to-speech function. We spent SO MUCH TIME writing comedic genius like "Jim is a penis," and "Mrs. Dabney has big boobs." It's all we used it for and it was on EVERY PC in the school.
Middle schoolers now do the same thing, but on Google Translate using the speaker button lol
Should have made him say “natural selection”
MY ROFLCOPTER GOES SOISOISOISOISOISOISOI
They never really let go of the PC personification bit completely. After switching away from Windows for almost a decade, I found phrasing in Win10 like "We're setting things up for you", "Let's get you connected to the internet" &c. very weird when I gave Microsoft another try.
Also, you had Cortana talk to you then as well. Win 11 still does that Minus Cortana's voice.
I was actually very confused when I saw it for the first time. "You're just a program, why the heck are you talking like... HELLO, YOU SAY?! Okay, what MS-idiot came up with this??"
"We're setting up new features for you. Don't worry, your files are right where we left them."
Whoever "we" are, they better not touch MY computer. Hey, wait, is that why they changed "My Computer" to "This PC"?
I love how tracking your information for advertisements used to be considered a virus.....
Edit: Thank you everyone for all of the likes and comments, my message to the world is take 5 minutes a day to be nice to someone. Thank you and god bless
Today you give permissions
69 😂
@@stachuvonokrutny7071 coerced permissions
@@Yuli-xk1lr govs dont care 😂
czcams.com/video/LyKbfXE3A4Q/video.html
I remember my Dad, who worked as a computer consultant at the time, was so pissed at 8 year old me for downloading this on the family computer. I tried to convince him Bonzi wouldn't get in the way and wouldn't annoy anyone else other than me, the pop-ups began. I was a dumb little kid who had no idea how the internet worked.
Bonzi made pop ups think about Petey tho
what year was that-?
Then What happened
@@kidfury260 I was very closely monitored on the computer and wasn't allowed to install much of anything. I remember when napster came along and I was only able to use it because my older siblings downloaded it.
I was 14/15 when I downloaded this and convinced my friends to do the same.... I should have known better. But that little purple face!!!! 😅
BonziBuddy didn't just use something similar to Microsoft Agent...it literally was just Microsoft Agent. MS Agent back in the days, along with their entire TTS suite, was free and programmable and had their own SDK for MS Visual Studio (and VBA, if you want that office integration) that anyone can download and use. My friends and I used to mess around with it all the time, turning Peedy into a narrator for MUDs and all sorts of weird stuff that teenagers did back then.
The only thing they did was commission their own agent model. That was it (and build the other features like calendar, etc.).
Off topic, but it is nice to see a fellow Spice & Wolf fan out here in the wild!
kind of ironic how bonzi is considered a malware for being a spyware and most of todays software which is worse, is not considered malware
It would be nice if they came back now lmao
In 10 years' time we'll be running the same story, except with Siri, Cortana and Alexa.
wtf is cortana
Windows version of alexa
...and basically every website, program and OS
Alexa, who is Siri?
@@donnelcrunk2122 its Windows's Virtual Assitant avaible in only windows 8 above
As a wise Bonzi once said:
E X P A N D D O N G
ITS TIME TO... EXPANDONGGGGG
Nice to meet you, Expand Dong!
Joelllll
I miss old Nikson
I died when I saw this-
This guy put in the effort to customizing the captions. Whoever does that automatically earns my respect.
I was the network admin over two school systems.
Every teacher installed this garbage on their machines and a couple even went so far as to install it on every single lab computer, caught them before they hit every lab.
That was a long, crappy month.
"dad what is technology ?"
" its magic joel, its magic"
"Ever since that day lil joel never be the same"
i scrolled far down to find this
@@BlackMetalBroad congrats!
E x p a n d d o n g
That line is legendary lmao
Haha a funny Sweden guy reference
1:05 So just like every social media platform and big tech companies. Got it :)
Hi! :0
yay I’m early to a verified
Wut
Because the corporations own the government unlike china where the state owns the corporations
Yep
I'm surprised that to this day bonzi buddy was never turned into some kind of ai horror I mean it's the perfect concept, an ai knowing more about you then you yourself and being able to possibly impersonate you is terrifying all with the false mask of "your best friend on the net"
Give it some time and someone will
When I was a kid I was scared of him lmao
I want to build one myself with AI tools. It's the only one I'd trust. I think it'll be possible soon.
Kinitopet is heree
@@guesty6128 YES
My uncle was pretty tech savvy at that time, and he knew it was malware. I remember him visiting the house and saw Bonzi on our computer and taking it with him to fix it. I was upset I couldn't play StarCraft for a whole week while he did a fresh install or whatever. Stupid purple gorilla. 🤣
He probably installed a key logger on your computer that also sends him screenshots
@@Phlegethon why would someone do that?
nowadays: Metadata/google
REESE OR REMI IS THAT YOU?
I only had good memories of clippy, realizing that it was actually hated is an odd feeling.
Right?! I loved him so much 😭
Me too. Clippy and the cat assistant. I miss them.
fr i loved clippy he was literally so chill he just wanted to help
I was indifferent to him, kinda useful and cute, kinda annoying and odd
He was on all the library computers. I miss him :(
"Bonzibuddy why is my computer getting so many viruses!"
Bonzibuddy: *My goal are beyond your understanding*
-reverse flash
goals*
Guys pls laugh
@@clashoclan3371 haha
He has a singular goal that is beyond our collective understanding
Bonzi Buddy walked so Temu could run
😭Yess
A year later and I still love the narration of these videos. Wonderful series!
Bonzi’s voice is the stuff of nightmares.
I love his voice it’s funny and cute😂
@Jonathan Perez OMG YES
@Adolf hitler yes
Npc
@Jonathan Perez it’s the same text to speech voice
As a kid I would type in incoherent profanity laden monologue and listen to it play back in that cheerful voice. Bonzi has a place in my heart
Brother!
The OG Moonman
XD
@Mark Ulis LMAO
good ol "hello, EXPAND DONG"
What's funny is that a lot of spyware features bonzibuddy incorporates are prevalent in most tech companies nowadays
I used to use Bonzi Buddy.
Putting characters like a tilde in front of letters made him enunciate words/phrases strangely. It was hilarious.
You can do something similar with AI voices today. The Minecraft text to speech made the "cobblestone song" which is it repeating "cobblestone, "
Clippy VS Bonzi Buddy would be a more ambitious crossover than endgame
We need clippy vs bonzi now
then people will be rooting for bonzi because he's a monke, smh
Someone call NicePeter and EpicLloyd, we got the next Epic Rap Battle!
R.I.P clippy
He was a real homie, he had no friends, so he always talked and helped us
F in chat for our fallen boi
F
F
F
F
Imagine having a time machine and just going to ALL these historical malware sites and just archiving as much as possible of it. Then releasing the information today...
I think kitboga did something like installing all the okd viruses he could find
Ahh the nostalgia. I learned the merry Oldsmobile song from him.
I remember in primary school years ago everyone would love clippy. Yknow, as 6 year olds do. It was quite devastating to us when the school finally updated the computer system and clippy was removed
How tragic!! :(
Rip clippy, may be rest in peace.
@@TheKingOfSoup clippy is on rpblox games now
@@TheKingOfSoup so u can still see him
@@TheKingOfSoup in a game
tbh its kinda sad how such a cute buddy is a virus, he scares me
What means tbh?
@@Cocomelonander42069 to be honest
@@notasimpanymore9525 thanks
literally... behind those eyes, behind that smile... the things he did (or does?), it's unsettling
I felt betrayed lol
Childhood memory unlocked here! I'd totally forgotten about this, I had BonziBuddy and I thought it was awesome! 😄
Memories! Thanks for taking us back to the early days of the internet.
Imagine if Bonzi had custom lines he'd say after you were hacked, including denials and taunts to the user. Those would make amazing creepypasta material.
DON'T GIVE THEM IDEAS
I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave.
"Oh you got hacked? L for being trash to prevent that Loser!!!!!!"
@@sillyest- or "I'm sorry Bob bonzi always comes back....always "
O
I remember seeing Bonzibuddy everywhere back then, I was at college at the time and you'd even find it installed on the computers there. The sad thing is, Bonzi actually had a very popular piece of software on their hands and if they'd treated their users with a bit more respect and not taken advantage of people, they could could have built it into a legit money spinner.
How would they have monetized it back then?
@@deleqtronica8733 same way lots of things monetized back then. Sell a default toolbar installer, sell the default search features website, & adspace in the games or their website. Kinda doubt it was expensive to operate considering they had other products as well.
Had they kept going until now without the malware aspects this product would be ideal for AI integration similar to replika or whatever that’s called.
@@deleqtronica8733it’s not even about back then, it’d still be an AI personality now. They could have been even 50% less greedy and still be around today. Bonzi was the first Siri.. Siri is now the go to name. Or Alexa. Big L
@@Delicioushashbrowns a lot of things weren’t monetized back then, the internet was a completely different market back then. Even giants like AOL and MSN weren’t able to find a way to monetize their product and ultimately failed.
@@deleqtronica8733I think they mentioned briefly that while the base program was free, you could pay for expanded features, so maybe that?
Man, 8:40 . It's crazy to think like less than 25% of the screen actually being the website you're trying to browse was considered acceptable UI back in the day.
13:45 I unironically liked that joke too lool
Lmaaooo no way, I remember everyone downloaded this guy to the school computers back in elementary/middle school, and the teachers all thought it was fine. We eventually had so many issues with the computers, we had to always work in groups due to the limited number of functioning pc's. Now it all makes sense 😂
😂😂😂😂bruh
Hahaha
Bonzi said no school
Lmao
Bonzi was just trying to get you some free time in school
I was a kid in school and my parents had just bought me my first PC, when a classmate told me about this awesome and cool character that lives in your PC and does all sorts of funny things. He told me to look it up and wrote down "bonzi buddy" on a piece of paper. For some reason I couldn't find it/install it and I was so disappointed. It remained in my memory and I remember me and my sister imagining and fantasizing how cool it would be if we had it in our PC. Years went by and today for the first time I read the name "Bonzi Buddy" again. Now I'm so glad I didn't manage to install it back then 😂
@Justin Martinez Wdym? You want his computer to crash?
@Justin Martinez Oof-same dude TnT
one time i joined a sorta roleplay thing (ace attorney online) as bonzi, that was pretty funny
@@tamozsenpai7896 Blox attorney
My dad had this on his pc when i was a kid he would type in things and bonzi would repeat it and it scared tf outta me thank god we and had nothing of value on the computer 😂
The ending of the video where Bonzi reads the outro lines was the cherry on top!
Wow, this unlocked a memory. My grandfather had this on his computer. I remember visiting him and him showing me the “purple gorilla” on his computer 😂😂
ILOVEYOU virus: *acts like a legit virus
Bonzi: ...
Ah, yes. the notorious "ILOVEYOU" virus
He's too extra, at least I try to be nice while I fuck up your PC ..
@@bonzibuddy1469 you’re still my bonzi buddy no matter how much you screw with my pc
@@somethingaboutsomething369 awwee thanks
@@bonzibuddy1469 yw
His demonic voice is all I need to hear to determine that he has malicious intentions
His voice is cute and funnu
Just sounds like a Tomodachi Life Mii to me.
I think the scratchiness is just caused by this recording software. I’ve heard him without a demon voice.
@@fakeoverheaven4468 funnu
@@Kyoobur9000 actually, it seems to be a bug from the virtualization software used in the video
I loved clippy as a kid, i had no idea what it did but loved having him on my screen
The fact that it caused this much trouble terrifies me even if I wasn’t there at the time.
Clippy was hated??
I only experienced clippy during my elementary school years but I loved it :^)
I know, I loved clippy. :'(
I mean, just change him to be less annoying. Don't just kill the entire thing.
Clippy was worse than Stalin.
Wanna have your memories ruined? His name is actually clippit.
People are too negative and critical. Surprise surprise.
Literally every single website : *cookies*
Grandmas : are you challenging me
Underrated comment lol
Waiting for someone to get whoooshed....
Cringe
@@ibeatmywifeandkids9084 /r whooshhh
why is this hilarious
What’s strange is that nowadays Bonzi is considered completely harmless because now a lot of big companies like Google and Facebook do the same thing. Back then, neither of them were popular yet, so of course everyone was going to freak out about Bonzi.
i remember a kid in my old school who was allowed to use the teacher's laptop and he downloaded bonzi buddy on there. wonder how the laptop is doing lmao
god damn
R.i.p teacher's computer
real hero
I bet the teacher was pissed after finding out that someone installed bonzi buddy on the computer
Probably about as good as my laptop is :((( wish I had knows
I guess you could call that a “bonzi scheme”
Why am I laughing so fucking hard
LMAO
LMFAO
Omg that's a good one lol
sorry to be the odd one out but i dont get it.. can someone explain?
The fact that bonzi nowadays wouldn’t really even be questioned is honestly concerning, mcaffe and cookies would have been considered terrible and would be widely controversial back then as well and it’s just normal now
speed doing this right is crazy moments after disaster
I’ve fallen down the “damaging virus in the 2000s” rabbit hole 😓 Anyway, love your videos!
Thank you!! I plan to make more content for your rabbit hole soon! :)
@@nationsquid Please do, this shit good.
@@plebisMaximus Thank you!! I have another computer virus video in the works, and also one on the history of Windows Vista! Have no idea which one will be out first, but stay tuned for that! Thank you for your support! :)
So uhmm im still here how did you get out?
MORE MORE THIS SHIT IS GOOD 😂
Fun fact: there exists actual licensed Bonzi Buddy plushies. They were made back when Bonzi Software was still in operation. And as such, not many were made, and they are now really rare and valuable.
honestly wondering, because I had a purple monkey/gorilla toy as a kid that looked just like this guy but was made of rubber. I can't find anything like him anywhere and I wonder if he was related somehow
The only one for sale right now is about $500
@@lowccperformance4059 it was sold
I remember loving this in 90s, it could say anything you wanted it to say, it was amazing
2002: Bonzibuddy is a dangerous Spyware
2022: Carl the NPC voice
All spyware aside, I would love if someone recreated it (without the bad stuff though)!!
there already is a clean version has been for years
@@casewhite5048 +if you got the original it wouldnt work since well the bonzi servers are dead
Game on, excepting the last part
@@casewhite5048 I mean personally I'd want a rebuilt modernized version. Newer text to speech, a new high res 3d model, etc.
Bonzi hd
It's interesting, that in my language we have a word: "Bonzovat", that means Spy so Bonzi Buddy is in my language is Spy Buddy.
Oof
What Language is that
@@potato7540 czech
Its like they werent even trying to hide it, if the internet was the way it was now im sure so many czech people would have been warned us about the creepy name it has, least its dead though.
Funny how open they were about it, but they still hid it well enough to do what they did
True geniuses
More often than not, tech support in the early 2000s was all about running 'msconfig' and unchecking all the boxes that were unnecessary, including often finding and disabling items like BonziBuddy.
16:44 I love how you got him on the end
90'S: need to download an trojan so they could get your data.
now: every device you own collects your data.
True af
The program was collecting user data for advertisement purposes.
Why does that sound familiar...
Yes, something unfortunately quite commonplace nowadays.
Sounds like Google, Facebook and bunch of other sites bonzi was the OG of stealing data lol
The diference is... they don't steal nowdays, they collect with user consent ... Bonzy did steal =P
At least they ask permission.
@@Superficial_Intelligence yeah they do that in their 100 page terms of service that no one reads tho
okay ngl im mad that the grandfather and digital clock joke got a chuckle out of me
This video brings so much nostalgia not because its bonzi buddy but because it was posted during march 2021 :)
12:27 If you see closely in top left corner when he opens bonzy buddy, you can actually see an really small window open, that's the windows that get your info.
Wow,what cheeky fucks
Might just be the type of way it displays on the screen and stuff.
@@doggo_woo They can't make stuff on the bakcground because it would alarm any antivirus that could be dowloaded on the victim's computer.
Holy cow your right! It’s so small
aaaaa i cant see it its so small;-;
I remember when this was all the rage. Me and all of my friends had Bonzi Buddy, we thought it was the coolest thing ever…I loved how whenever I got on my computer this friendly little cartoon swung onto my screen and started talking to me while I did my homework. I couldn’t understand why my parents wanted to ruin every last bit of fun lmao…makes sense now…although the info bonzi gathered is peanuts compared to Facebook
DO NOT READ MY USERNAME (ik You Did)!!**
@@JailbreakDetective you ain’t gonna do it
I didn’t have friends but i heard about it when i was 8 and deliberately tried to download this just to have it
I literally just watched Joel's video where he downloaded Bonzi, so that surprised me... but hey, great video!
After watching this, I now fully realize how much KinitoPET was inspired by Bonzibuddy, the voice, the character being purple, being forced to put in personal information, amd the company behind the thing being started by 2 brothers with the thing's name as their last name.
Kinito is almost a 1 to 1 of Bonzi, which would probably make the game even scarier for people who actually used Bonzi.
I love the way Bonzi speaks in a broken Speakonia voice because of not being supported by that operation system.
bonzi was voiced by the legend, dr steven hawkings.
@@YeetTheDuck hol up-
So if clippy is that old... does that mean the math worksheets I get at school are as old as him? 😨 He's always in the bottom corners giving me hints
Yo that's actually fucking weird to think about
your teacher might just add him to the corner as a cute hint bubble!
Lmao yep cause I remember seeing clippy on my school worksheets and I'm 27 now and have been out of school for 10 years now
hmm
When I was in school I had worksheets that had been clearly made before I was born. In social studies the teacher once gave us worksheets that described the Soviet Union as though it still existed. That was around 2004.
early 2000s: a innocent looking ape was collecting data and selling it! Super dangerous malware!
2022: Looks at Cortana...
Takes me back. I was a kid back in the early 2000s, I saw BonziBuddy on a neighbours PC. That family did not know much about computers. I wanted to install it on my PC at gine, my dad worked with computers for a living and knew that this was spyware right away. He removed it and was not very happy with me. Thanks for the bit of nostalgia, as a much more computer savvy adult I find all of this kind of funny now.
"IM REALLY FUCKING TRYING GREGORY BUT WILLIAM AFTON INSTALLED BONZI BUDDY ONTO MY HARD DRIVE"
Poor Gregory LOL
"terrible job supershit"
@@Sleepy-Pile-of-Ashe I'm not into FNAF but this is pure gold
@@Sleepy-Pile-of-Ashe 🤣🤣
@@Sleepy-Pile-of-Ashe XD this is the funniest thing I've seen all day
one day i'm going to make a computer virus that plays rick astley never gonna give you up when you start the computer
yes
RickRoller
*Dialing the FBI*
And i will buy that and what will I never do
Never gunna turn it off
Wholesome 100 reddit moment
I was a little kid at the time so I treated it as an interactive game character, and would make it say silly phrases or sentences. Had no idea that it was meant to "help" people use their computers, much less that it was actually malware.
Those desktop filenames were a nice touch
my dad was so pissed at me in 2002 or so when he had to spend a hour or 2 figuring out how to get rid of bonzi buddy from our family computer
LOL feel bad for your dad tho
mine is sick rn soooo
@@sushi7910 hope he gets better gamer
mall-ware
*yes*
*fuuny*
*tanks*
"Malware, it's bad... who knew?!"
huh
5:52 yeah, when my dad was younger he changed the name of his family computer to something not so clean, he got bonzibuddy to say "Hello Stupid Sl&^ Wh@%#" on start-up.
Just wanna say, RIP Clippy. You've been my best bud in the late 90s.
I must admit, as a kid, I fell into this trap, but immediately understood something was wrong when the first error popped up, as my father said this when he bought me a PC: "you want it? Ok, but you'll have to take care of it and fix it on your own, no asking help from anybody", making me aware that the error was fake, not aware it installed a trojan though, but anyways I just formatted my PC and that was the end of bonzi for me.
one of the smartest kids in the comment section lmao
Well at least you saved yourself from bonzi
@@sadnnt lol thanks, although that was pretty much the extent of my abilities there XD
@@thesilentmarauder3758 True, but to this day, I still like the idea of such multi function assistant, aside for the negative effects of course XD
@@Warbandit100 It’s a great concept, which is why bonzi took advantage of it to create the bonzibuddy program
I remember around that time it was really hard to keep a pc clean. All sort of browser add-ons would self install, then slow your computer to a crawl, download other crap and generally make life hell. If you searched the internet for anti-virus software, for every genuine product there were ten more that were just malware designed to screw your machine up further. Even the genuine products tended to slow your machine down so much they felt like malware. In the end the only safe way to live was to start with a clean machine and only install/download from companies your really, really trusted. Except now we know that even they would sell your grandmother if they could see a profit.
was born in the early 2000s so I didn't get a chance to really understand the operating systems past windows 7 as I was too young, but I really agree with the last line. lol
Oh but even then I still remember the weird toolbars and programs I accidentally installed on windows XP and windows 7 because of my naivety, making the machines really slow.
In those days, the genuine product had to share scarce CPU power with whatever else you where doing at the time. These days CPUs have gotten to the point where you can basically run 10 of the old systems and still have the power left to go about life.
I have so much respect for Bonzibuddy and Bonzi Soft.
I convinced my parent into letting us get this little guy, she loved it, I loved it. I was like 11 or 12 when it came out. Luckily I was really quick and on the internet a lot so I was always disabling toolbars and uninstalling malware and the like. She was pretty upset when our Bonzai Buddy had to go. But I think she’d find this endearing to see how it has lasted all this time. I know I do.
Peedy the parrot is a deep, unearthed memory from old Windows. I really loved that parrot.
I remember using Peedy and loving it but when it changed to the gorilla, I abandoned it!
That automated voice makes my skin crawl after watching so much analog horror
8:18 - A worm is the term used to describe a self-replicating piece of malicious software. A virus is used to describe any malicious software that requires user action to execute.
hElLo, We DiDiN’t InTrOdUcE oUrSeLvEs PrOpErLy. I’m BoNzI