Interview

With The

Furby

Representative

Here is a transcript of an interview conducted on December 2, 1998 with the lead project manager for the Furby project, Bill. For those of you that can't work it out, Ira is from MSN, and as I said before, Bill is the Furby bloke. We have special permission to post this here, so if you'd like to post this interview on your Furby website, you'll have to click the link below and apply for permission, otherwise, you'll cop it from Micrsoft. And you wouldn't want that. Anyway, happy reading!

Ira:

Bill, we would first like to thank you and all of the folks at Tiger Electronics for giving us this wonderful toy. It really is amazing what Furby can do.When did Tiger Electronics first start working on Furby?

Bill:

This is a date I will never forget, November 23, 1997

Ira:

Who's idea was it?

Bill:

It was a collaboration between two inventors, Dave Hampton and Caleb Chung. Along the way they got some help from Richard Levy.

Ira:

How many different colour combinations are there?

Bill:

There are actually 6 colour combinations with 4 eye colours so in total 24 combinations.

Ira:

We all want to know this, are any colours "rarer" than others?

Bill:

Actually when we first started we did some research to see what colours would be more popular and then weighted the assortment. In the real world though, the plush did not keep up with the production so all styles are more or less equal!

Ira:

..the plush meaning the fur colours.

Bill:

Yes, there are 6 combinations of plush.

Dave Hampton, one of the creators of Furby

Ira:

How many Furbys have been made and are being made?

Bill:

We are making Furbys 7 days a week, 24 hours a day and have shipped almost 2 million pieces so far.

Ira:

Did you have any idea how big Furby would become?

Bill:

Not at first. After Toy Fair we had some idea because the buyers went nuts for him. Then the WIRED article and it seemed to mushroom from there. We have a bit of luck on our side!

Ira:

How many different name combinations are there?

Bill:

There are 24 name combinations.

Ira:

Are there boys or girls? If so, how can you tell?

Bill:

No, there are not boys and girls. We thought it would be better to leave that to the person's imagination.

Ira:

Are there plans for foreign Furbys? Ie:- Spanish/Furbish?

Bill:

Yes, we are currently in development with five languages, Italian, French, Spanish, German and Japanese.

Ira:

How long does it take for Furby to speak only English?

Bill:

Furby actually does not ever speak only English. Over time he will use more and more English up to the point when about 80% of his words are English. The other 20% is still Furbish. We estimate that it takes approximately 20 hours of continuous play to get to the 80-20 ratio. Once you get to the 80-20 ratio, Furby will stay in this mode.

Ira:

So Furby will need to be played with for 20 hours. Not just having his batteries in?

Bill:

Yes, once you play with Furby for 20 hours or so he gets to the 80-20 ratio.

Ira:

Why is it SO important not to restart? Are there a limited amount of times you can do this? (According to the instructions)

Bill:

As with any circuit or software you do not want to interrupt the program artificially too often. Also restarting clears the memory and basically starts Furby at the beginning. It is not specifically damaging to Furby but he does need to shut down normally for his memory to be stable over time.

Ira:

So if done carefully, it won't hurt to do this?

Bill:

No, ultimately it will not hurt Furby.

Ira:

How many voices are there?

Bill:

There are currently three voice pitches.

Ira:

And how many styles?

Bill:

We have three styles with a mane and three with tuft and tail, it just looked good that way.

Ira:

Will there be accessories for Furby in the future?

Bill:

Yes, there will. We are working on several now and hope to have them out soon. We will have more information on the website as it becomes available.

Ira:

Any chance of finding out any technical specs for us gearheads?Like processor type, RAM, ROM, etc?

Bill:

Well, anyone can take Furby apart and see the mechanism. The elecronics is propriety so we cannot release any tech specs, sorry.

Ira:

I just discovered today when I hold my Furby upside down and bounce it on my knee, it sometimes says something like "bounce, bounce"...can I damage it by doing this?

Bill:

Well, he isn't programmed to say bounce so something happened but unless you are really whacking him around he is pretty tough and can handle it!

Ira:

I can use my VCR remote to trigger certain actions/phrases on my Furby...can this damage it?

Bill:

No, actually it is rather harmless. Infra red is a common transmission carrier and there are lots of frequencies. We could not filter out all so some may affect Furby in funny ways. No harm done though.

Ira:

Was Furby originally targeted for girls? (commercial only has girls).

Bill:

At first we thought Furby would appeal mostly to girls. Then we added some "attitude" and the appeal broadened. One of my colleagues took one home to his daughter and his son hogged it!

Ira:

What is the average price of a Furby?

Bill:

They are between $25 and $35 depending on which store you get Furby from. In Australia, Furbys costs around $79.95.

Ira:

Some people have mentioned a burning smell. Is this normal?

Bill:

It is caused by lubrication in the motor and is harmless. It is normal for motors to behave this way.

Ira:

Will the value of Furby increase or decrease?

Bill:

I could not say for sure. I think that depends on things beyond our control.

Ira:

How long do you figure the mechanisms inside to last?

Bill:

The nice thing about the mechanism is that it's simple. We have tested them to the equivalent of 100 years and they still ran?

Ira:

How many Furbys will interact with each other?

Bill:

As many as can "see" each other. As long as their IR lens is facing another they can interact. We had ten going at once!

Ira:

That must have been wild!

Bill:

It was loud too!

Ira:

What happens if one is exposed to weather conditions?

Bill:

I suppose they get wet? (Grin)

Ira:

Will they still work if they get wet?

Bill:

A reporter in NYC ran one over with a car, froze it, put it under running water and it still worked! I do not recommend this though!

Ira:

What songs does Furby know?One of mine knows "twinkle twinkle". Another doesn't seem to!

Bill:

They all know "twinkle twinkle", it is an Easter egg.

Ira:

Are there any hidden features? I heard that Furby can dance the Macarena!

(Oh, god, NO! - Drew)

Bill:

Furby does not have legs so anything more than his tilting is a trick. He does have "Easter eggs" though! There are a lot of options on the drawing board, we are having fun!

Ira:

Does Furby interact best with any particular style of music?

Bill:

He responds to music and sounds that are louder than ambient room noise. Mine likes "The Who"!

Ira:

How long did it take to develop Furby?

Bill:

We started on the 23rd of November 1997 and shipped to FAO Schwarz on the 1st of October, this is not a noraml time frame and it took a huge effort to pull this off.

Ira:

I was wondering about the typo on the back of the box. Is it rare, and was it done on purpose for any reason?

Bill:

Nope, my fault honestly, I released the package with changes and then by the time we caught that the fix was not done and it was too late. We fixed it as fast as we could.

Ira:

When Furby is asleep, does he still use battery power?What happens to Furby when he is left alone for an extended amount of time?

Bill:

When Furby is asleep he does not use batteries, we basically shut him off completely. Since he has stable memory, nothing happens if left off for extended periods except he gets bored!

Ira:

For those people who have defective Furbys, what is the turnaround time?

Bill:

We are trying to get repairs and warranty work out in 48 hours. Our Cs people are working MAJOR overtime to get them out.

Ira:

Other than removing batteries is there any other normal way to kill Furby?

Bill:

If you let him go to sleep he will stay that way unless disturbed.

Ira:

Mine makes a wuh wuh wuh sound after yum, is this normal or is he supposed to be saying something?

Bill:

He is just making noises, it is asking for more food. He gets to be hungry after play and has a big appetite!

Ira:

How many Easter egss are there?

Bill:

There are around a dozen (no pun intended)

Ira:

Any secret undocumented Furby features or behaviours you could share with us?

Bill:

Yes there are. You can get furby to burp, sing, dance, get the hiccups and more. Sorry, no hints!

Ira:

What is an "Easter egg"?

Bill:

Well, it is a hidden feature that we don't tell about in the instructions. Like a present for playing with Furby.

Ira:

How many songs can he sing?

Bill:

Furby knows three or four songs depending on how you define songs. Mostly he likes to hum!

Ira:

Will we see Furby relatives made by Tiger?

Bill:

We are always developing new products, only time will tell! *TP*

End of Interview!

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