Microsoft targets kids with high-tech Barney doll

Microsoft's next big product isn't a scalable server application or a cutting-edge operating system, it's a purple dinosaur doll that talks. Yes,it's Barney.

Just when you thought you'd never hear the "I love you" song again, Microsoft has resuscitated Barney as an interactive, electronic stuffedanimal that plays peek-a-boo, uses a computer, and watches Barney videoswith your child. It's as sickening as it sounds.

Due on store shelves this month, the Microsoft Barney doll has a vocabularyof 2,000 words. His hands control 12 activities and his feet control 17songs. He detects shapes and colors, can count, and can sing the ABC's. Ifyou cover his eyes, he says, "I can't see you."

Impossible, you say? The $100 toy isn't a simple talking doll, but rathera sophisticated computer designed to make learning fun. CD-ROM and videosets designed for the toy weigh in at $60. It includes 2MB of ROM and aradio receiver that works off of battery power. When used with a CD-ROM,the doll helps children play computer games. With a video, it sings alongand asks children to dance.

"It isn't just putting Barney on a motor and hearing him talk," saidMicrosoft vice president Rick Thompson, who promises other dolls with similar capabilities in the next few years. "It's a friend, and someonekids can learn with."

Will it sell? Probably. But it makes one wonder where Microsoft will getinvolved next