Several years ago, HP ran what I thought was a great promotion. They offered a virtual pet, a fish that you could interact with. I'm betting it was a sim--it responded to treatment, granted with a limited number of responses.
I tried to be as gentle with mine as possible, but it would still occasionally go wiggy and dart back and forth before cowering behind its plant. That was the trick--HP monitored how many pages you printed on your HP printer, and you earned a certain number of points per page. Once you had enough points, you could exchange them for fish toys, plants, an aerator, and other stuff. Since I was printing out multiple copies of a manuscript at the time, I furnished Fidget's bowl in nothing flat.
He was like a real pet. I had to interact with him regularly, and feed him. Unfortunately, there was no off switch--I went out of town for Worldcon, and when I came home, I fired up the PC to find Fidget floating along the top of his bowl.
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winterfish
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Date: 2005-07-16 02:45 am (UTC)I tried to be as gentle with mine as possible, but it would still occasionally go wiggy and dart back and forth before cowering behind its plant. That was the trick--HP monitored how many pages you printed on your HP printer, and you earned a certain number of points per page. Once you had enough points, you could exchange them for fish toys, plants, an aerator, and other stuff. Since I was printing out multiple copies of a manuscript at the time, I furnished Fidget's bowl in nothing flat.
He was like a real pet. I had to interact with him regularly, and feed him. Unfortunately, there was no off switch--I went out of town for Worldcon, and when I came home, I fired up the PC to find Fidget floating along the top of his bowl.
That sucked.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-16 05:04 am (UTC)A "Vacation" switch would have been good. I wonder how many parents had to explain the dead fish to small children...