GooglyMinotaur was an
instant messaging bot on the
AOL Instant Messenger network. Developed by
ActiveBuddy under contract by
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
, GooglyMinotaur provided
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
-related information, and was released simultaneously with the band's fifth studio album, ''
Amnesiac'' in June 2001.
[CNet News]
"Radiohead 'buddy' extends a hand"
(June 5, 2001). GooglyMinotaur was named for the character that appears on the ''
Amnesiac'' album cover.
ActiveBuddy's first offering,
GooglyMinotaur was by November 2001 on 387,000 buddy lists and had received more than 36 million messages.
It provided tour information, band facts, MP3 downloads, and assorted exclusive content provided by the studio, Capitol Records, in addition to the idle conversation that typified the chatterbots of that period.
In March 2002, GooglyMinotaur was switched off, and responded with the message "Since his catapult into buddy-hood, GooglyMinotaur has sent about 60 million IM messages to nearly 1 million different people. Always dependable and infinitely wise, Googly seemed fitter and happier up until his very last days. At this time, reports state the cause of death is undetermined."
References
External links
The oral history of Radiohead’s GooglyMinotaur, a chatbot ahead of its time
{{DEFAULTSORT:Googlyminotaur
Chatbots
Radiohead