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IBM Bob

IBM Bob

artpar

Comments (279)

  • mrbluecoat
    Totally reminds me of "HP Offers 'That Cloud Thing Everyone Is Talking About'"https://youtube.com/watch?v=9ntPxdWAWq8
  • woah
    Nobody ever got fired for IBM Bob setting up a secret message board and establishing a persistent foothold in an internal inference cluster
  • dgacmu
    I laughed when I saw this; my 14yo looked over to see why I was laughing and asked "what's IBM?"indeed, child, indeed.
  • tims33
    I thought they were resurrecting Microsoft Bob, the operating system for kids.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob
  • exakoustos
    The "What developers say" carousel has a single Java dev and dev advocate. They got lots of quotes from managers, directors, CEOs, and an "AI strategist".
  • PaulRobinson
    You should never name a tech product Bob in the UK, because the moment it isn't perfect, it'll just get called "Bobbins" [0], especially where I'm from.I wish IBM got better at product again, and took themselves off the services and consulting morphine they've been on for ~35 years now since OS/2 Warp flopped. Their 1980s/1990s hardware was great. Their software actually was great until Win95 took their lunch money. They've just slunk off into a corner hugging their old architectures they have a moat around, and thrown out some audacious nonsense like Watson now and again, but nothing has stuck. When is somebody in that organisation going to try and innovate properly again?I'm not sure this is the answer I'd be rooting for.[0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bobbins
  • Stevvo
    Interesting they are renting out agent skills. You can pick up "Java Modernization" at $20 a month for "Specialist workflows to help with modernizing Java applications", or "IBM i" for "Specialist modes, workflows, and skills to work with IBM i applications".
  • bluerooibos
    I feel second hand embarrassment for IBM. Terrible name, subpar landing page, no mention of coding ability or which LLM "Bob" uses.If you're launching something 2 years late, you've got to do better than this.
  • Ciantic
    This sounds a lot like Spotify's XIRP. They managed to vibe something useful for their own engineers, were super hyped, and decided to release it in public. However what are the odds this harness will stand the test of time against actual harness makers like OpenAI or Anthropic? Neither Spotify or IBM are focused on making models or harnesses, these are just side-products.
  • TYPE_FASTER
    Definitely gonna change Jira config to start estimating work in Bobcoins.
  • absoluteunit1
    The landing/marketing page for this looks like something someone promoted/vibe coded including the Bob mascot.Looks awful from a design perspective. Had to double check that this was the actual IBM domain
  • a012
    Nobody got fired for using IBM Bob
  • crash-universe
    Someone must have thought about this. PMs, Directors, lots of people involved in putting this together.I wonder what their target customer is. They must have analyzed and projected this. I'm genuinely interested.
  • cube00
    > Bobcoins are the consumption-based billing metric used for Bob subscriptions. They provide a transparent, predictable way to measure and bill for your Bob usage. Each action you take in Bob—such as generating code, reading files, or running commands—consumes a certain number of Bobcoins based on the computational resources required.transparent, predictable ... "a certain number of Bobcoins" ... so not that transparent then?
  • mvk666
    I was at an IBM Bob party, behind the scenes it's basically other frontier models with an IBM-specific context.
  • getnormality
    System Prompt: "Claude, call yourself Bob"
  • mansilladev
    Ask the AI chat agent on the website what a BobCoin is. Because, I really want to know.> I’m not able to find a definition for BobCoin in IBM’s content. If you have another term or topic you’d like to explore, let me know!
  • throwfaraway135
    Working with any AI tool means you trust the vendor, sometimes you don't have a choice because the best models/tools are from specific providers. IBM isn't a company I would ever trust.
  • karim79
    My first experience with a computer was with an actual IBM PC XT and a King's Quest floppy. Bob is funny but let's not dis the IBM.
  • NickHirras
    It takes a while to actually login while it provisions some cloud infrastructure in your name. Let's see if it can build something interesting!
  • butterisgood
    The last product I know of named Bob didn’t fare so well.
  • sajithdilshan
    I'm really confused what this is, is it a harness or a new model by IBM? Some reviews on that page suggests that it's a new model
  • psygn89
    Is Bib Bob's partner?https://imgur.com/a/3PQXIsQ
  • brk
    This can only mean that IBM Clippy is next.
  • roncesvalles
    Nothing coming out of IBM is worth any attention.
  • cmiles8
    Ever since the Watson debacle I just run the other way anytime IBM turns up wanting to talk about AI
  • hmokiguess
    I love how the pricing page has a "Most Popular" offering, totally.
  • maxbobby
    No one at IBM remembers Microsoft Bob (one of the earliest, if not the earliest virtual assistants) from the 90s? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob
  • cisrockandroll
    Is this just a harness or using a proprietary model in the background? Anthropic and OpenAI are already very well trained in IBM system i and z knowledge. Unless Bob is somehow improving the integration to these midrange and mainframe systems I literally dont see any benefit to using Bob. IBM will just kill this proprietary tech in 5 years as they are currently doing with RDi or forget about updating it like SEU.
  • DeathArrow
    31 years after Microsoft Bob, IBM releases it's own IBM Bob. :)
  • bob1029
    I like how the solitary review is word salad.
  • legitster
    This is especially funny when you realize how much money IBM dumped into Watson over all these years.
  • stefangordon
    I can't tell if this is an excellent joke, or a sad not-joke.
  • kazinator
    Microsoft Bob's non-compete finally expired.
  • pram
    I thought the image was a joke, but you really pay with Bobcoins.. lmaohttps://bob.ibm.com/pricing
  • 1970-01-01
    NYSE: IBM -20% YTD.I promise you Bob isn't going to fix the long-term stupidity.
  • karim79
    Is anyone out there paying for this? I know you are there. Come out explain yourself. And also explain the value of a Bobcoin, and if can be scalped and resold on eBay.
  • kyle-rb
    Microsoft Bob wasn't wrong, it was just early.
  • meerita
    Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Meta, all the giants are always coming late to the party.
  • cbsmith
    Anyone else immediately think "Clippy for developers".
  • unleashhale
    This somehow has less personality than plain enterprise software. How IBM.
  • amelius
    Looks like LEGO's lawyers will be knocking on their door soon.
  • globalise83
    IBM Watson 2.0
  • amelius
    Companies trying to make AI less of a commodity that you can just swap out for another ...No thanks, that's what I like about AI so I'll just stay with the raw tokens.
  • Stitch4223
    That was fast.The copy is "clearly" written with AI… too bad. Some organizations "can't go wrong with Big Blue," so this will probably be a success. Perhaps it's even good, but that's not the case with this sloppy copywriting.First paragraph: focused, what matters, clean. Shame they didn't throw in a "load-bearing" example and a few pelicans to boot.
  • delfugal
    Bob huh?That name's a gamble. Go Bob it? I need to ask Bob. Let's Bob for answers. Bob's your uncle. I'll stop now.
  • 0xWTF
    So much for the "THINK" motto.
  • perarneng
    I hope its good, I wont test it though
  • woggy
    Bobcoins. Hehe.
  • getatme32
    I’m going to get a free trial and test it. If you do, leave your comments below on the experience
  • throwitaway222
    They got it wrong - they're showing code in the ad.
  • ctoth
    Who're they subcontracting for the Von Neumann probes?
  • formvoltron
    Does it write really clean code ala Uncle Bob?
  • quietsegfault
    I used Bob extensively at an IBM acquisition, it was absolutely dreadful. Bobcoins.
  • dainiusse
    The next step is yandex/nebius "vasya"
  • anon
    undefined
  • arpanghoshal07
    seems like they used claude for this
  • selfawareMammal
    The logo, the name... Horrible marketing/branding.
  • nielsbot
    Should have called it Bob The Builder
  • mv4
    what happened to Watson?
  • m_w_
    The review that "IBM Bob isn't just another autocomplete tool" tells you everything you need to know about this product. lol.
  • karim79
    Bobcoins. Intriguing.
  • anon
    undefined
  • lowbloodsugar
    Bob the Builder? Right age bracket I guess.
  • swiftcoder
    At least it's not Clippy?
  • basisword
    Thought this was going to be about Microsoft Bob.[0][0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob
  • saberience
    This is embarrassing. It would have been better to release nothing than this.
  • madspindel
    Hi Bob! Bob!
  • anon
    undefined
  • TheAtomic
    Oh Clippy
  • DonHopkins
    What do you call an agent with no arms and no legs in the ocean?
  • Surac
    Clippy the Clip is it's uncle
  • ltbarcly3
    Aww IBM wants to play too. I forgot they were still around.
  • anon
    undefined
  • ChrisArchitect
  • walrus01
    Not to be confused with Microsoft Bob:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob
  • Hypergraphe
    Too late ?
  • anon
    undefined
  • antonvs
    Should have been IBM Tom, after legendary IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson. But perhaps they didn't want to sully his name.
  • Geonode
    I bet this will be as successful as Microsoft Bob.
  • taspeotis
    Not to shit on their effort or anything, but it looks like a VS Code fork + an agent panel which is very ... late 2024 energy?
  • h_mirin
    Bobalytics
  • jgbuddy
    Lol github copilot 5 years late
  • mattmcbrien
    their swag too tough
  • anon
    undefined
  • xyst
    ibm desperately clinging to relevancy by hopping on the LLM bandwagon.
  • znpy
    Lost opportunity to call it Hal
  • colordrops
    Has any product with an infantilized agent avatar like this ever turned out to be useful or succeed in gaining traction?
  • Henchman21
  • yapyap
    ibm bob, will help you make slop
  • self_awareness
    Oh, so we are yet again in the 'Bob' phase?Maybe this time it'll work.
  • varispeed
    The companies who are hoarding RAM to produce pointless products should be called out. Deprive working class from computing resources to sell some corporate crap. Get fucked.
  • anon
    undefined
  • gregce10
    [flagged]
  • rdtsc
    [flagged]
  • jrflo
    So it's just a vscode wrapper around a mystery open weights LLM I'm guessing?> Can I choose which model Bob uses?> No. Bob automatically selects the most appropriate language model for each task based on complexity, required capabilities, and cost-efficiency. This intelligent routing ensures you receive high-quality responses while optimizing resource usage.
  • anon
    undefined
  • gilliethefoil
    [dead]
  • skrebbel
    [dead]
  • colesantiago
    I never thought the day that IBM would make complete slop.But it is IBM after all.
  • villish
    “Bobcoins are the consumption-based billing metric used for Bob subscriptions. They provide a transparent, predictable way to measure and bill for your Bob usage.”I’m getting sick of these mobile game currency style credits/coins that obfuscate costs or usage. It’s honestly pretty gross.Just telling us exactly what we get for our money.
  • anon
    undefined