Winslow is Hannelore's companion AI. His original chassis was a new-model[1] Apple AnthroPC, serial number 00000014A[2], with 1 GB of RAM, whose look was based on an Apple iPod.[3] He is fairly insecure[4] and naive[5] and has often been used for comic relief and throw-away gags along-side Pintsize. He is one of only three characters in the strip to have his own plush version.
Biography[]
Winslow's original chassis in Number 1777: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out.
Winslow was introduced as a friend of Pintsize early on in Hannelore's introduction after Marten and Faye move in to their new apartment. At that point he was recently adopted.[1] He reveals that Pintsize would send him equine pornography which he found disturbing,[1] but nonetheless they developed a friendship. He is frequently the victim or patsy of many of Pintsize's schemes[6] and acts as the voice of reason that is usually ignored.[7]
He initially did not get along with Roomba after the vacuum's behavior around Hannelore,[8] but came to treat it like a pet.
He often attends Anthro-PC events such as a bachelor party[9] and game nights. He interacts with other APC's, like Momo and PT410X.
After Hannelore's father sends her a humanoid robot as a present, Marten uploads Winslow's consciousness to it,[10] allowing him to sample various human activities such as visiting Coffee of Doom. Despite his new abilities, he votes to return to his original body.[11]
Winslow's design model appears to be more susceptible to cold weather than Pintsize's Model 8600 design, as he froze up when exposed to snow while Pintsize appeared completely unaffected. This could, however, also be a result of Pintsize having been retrofitted with a military-grade chassis, which would logically be ruggedized to be more weather proof.
Despite being a sentient machine Winslow is often concerned with philosophical issues, such as his own existence and purpose[12] and where sentient machines originate from.[13] He does not believe his programming constitutes "slavery".[14] An early strip implied he could have feelings for - or feel possessive towards - Hannelore, as he was outraged when Roomba referred to her as "his woman."
Upgrading his chassis[]
After Winslow asked Hannelore for a humanoid body,[15] they went shopping for a new chassis for himself. He ended up choosing a Deluxe Regular Boy model in pink.[16] Winslow was excited to show his new chassis to May, who responded angrily, upset at how easily Winslow had obtained a new body when her own chassis was falling apart.[17] Winslow got advice about the situation from Bubbles[18] and Hannelore[19], and apologized to May.[20]
The experience prompted him to take up volunteering with AI aid organizations in order to use his privilege to do good, following Bubbles' advice.[21] Upon arriving at one of the volunteering roles, Winslow was abruptly put on the spot as the replacement counselor for a group therapy session.[22] Despite his initial anxiety, Winslow took to the role well, and even succeeded in getting May to open up about expressing emotions and telling her friends that she cares for them.[23]
Traveling with Hannelore[]
Winslow joined Hannelore during her voyages.[24][25] He seems to have found the experience more harrowing than anything, vowing never to go traveling again. On one memorable occasion, Winslow recalled waking up to find that scorpions had crawled inside his chassis seeking warmth.[26] Other unpleasant experiences involved being kicked by a yak, being bitten by three different kinds of snake (although it is unclear whether snake bites can harm AIs), and twitching his way through a week-long exotic malware attack. He also disliked dealing with "strange hotels", "damp tents" and "non-standard charging adapters".[27]
When visiting a deep-sea research laboratory with Hannelore, Winslow was extremely distressed by the appearance of a giant eye at one of the portholes, and declared that he hated the ocean.[28]
After returning to Northampton, he was reluctant to leave the house, preferring to stay inside and watch pigeons.[29] However, he motivated himself to go out, reassured that he wouldn't have any encounters with large ungulates; immediately after this, he was licked by Fairy's reindeer, causing him to pass out.[30] He woke up in Union Robotics.[31] Later on that day, he tripped over an invisible emu and met Millefeuille and her colleague. Winslow talked to the emu for some time, describing her as a "great listener".[32]
Sex and drugs and rock&roll[]
Winslow is clean-minded as AnthroPCs go but has visited at least one off-color website, as evidenced by him trying to make up Hannelore to resemble the "ladies on the internet".[33] When May told him about her sexual exploits with Sven, Winslow was shocked but fascinated, and assumed that May and Sven were romantically involved.[34] When Hannelore made a joke about Winslow becoming an exotic dancer, Winslow was initially scandalised but then riffed on the joke.[35]
Winslow developed a crush on Roko as soon as he met her, describing her to May as an "angel".[36][37] He expressed an interest in volunteering at the AI rights organisation alongside her, although May poured cold water on the idea.[38] Winslow later plucked up the courage to ask Roko anyway and joined as a volunteer,[39] although he has not appeared to act on his attraction to Roko.
Winslow is not a regular drug user but has consumed jello shots.[40] Ironically for an AI whose original chassis resembled an iPod, he has no known musical preferences.
Memorable quotes[]
- "Why the heck do people still use machines that can't think?"[41]
- "What are you doing with that other computer?!"[42]
- "Math is delicious!"[43]
- "That's right, baby! I'm a smooth operator."[44]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Number 527: Those Poor Horsies
- ↑ Number 3056: Robot Anatomy V: Return To Oz
- ↑ Number 629: My G5 Does The Same Thing
- ↑ Number 1223: Not In My Backyard
- ↑ Number 1366: Self-Explanatory, Really
- ↑ Number 1316: The Familiar Boot Screen
- ↑ Number 805: Unplumbed Depths
- ↑ Number 704: West Side Story
- ↑ Number 1149: Don't Even Ask About The VIP Room
- ↑ Number 1012: Think Of The Children
- ↑ Number 1016: Maybe Craigslist?
- ↑ Number 706: Darwin Shuddered
- ↑ Number 1506: "Irreconcilable Differences"
- ↑ Number 1411: Just Because You're Paranoid
- ↑ Number 3538: Winslow 2.0—Number 3539: Tacit Agreement
- ↑ Number 3540: It's Raining Young Men—Number 3542: The More Arms The Better
- ↑ Number 3547: Harsh
- ↑ Number 3548: Bubbles To The Rescue
- ↑ Number 3550: Tea's On Me
- ↑ Number 3551: Lunch Break
- ↑ Number 3550: Tea's On Me
- ↑ Number 3576: Straight Into The Trenches
- ↑ Number 3580: Muted Trumpet Noise—Number 3581: Carnival Treats
- ↑ 3755: I Made Winslow Cuter
- ↑ 3809: Bloop
- ↑ 4050: Yak Insurance
- ↑ 4061: Coo
- ↑ 3809: Bloop
- ↑ 4061: Coo
- ↑ 4063: Extremely Unlikely
- ↑ 4064: Faye Speaks Fairy I Guess?
- ↑ 4075: Glitchy
- ↑ Number 944: He Did His Best
- ↑ 4070: Icarus Analysis
- ↑ 4060: Rumination
- ↑ 4072: Don't Hurt Me No More
- ↑ 4073: Don't Kinkshame
- ↑ 4074: Run The Juuls
- ↑ 4200: Command And Control
- ↑ Number 611: Robots Gone Wild
- ↑ Number 1001: I Can Has CatPuter?
- ↑ Number 1222: Modern Adultery
- ↑ Number 593: Math Confuses And Frightens Me
- ↑ Number 855: Robo-Cockblocked
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Coffee of Doom | Smif College |
| The Secret Bakery | Union Robotics |
| The Space Station | AI rights nonprofit |
| The Horrible Revelation | Robot-Fighting Ring |
| Cubetown | |
| Parents | |
| Other | |
| Robots | |
| Minor | Filler strips |
| Unnamed/unseen characters | |