And there it was. A tiny “G” icon. A perfect, obedient little square.

The answers were a labyrinth. “Right-click the taskbar, select Toolbars, then New Toolbar…” one said. Another screamed in all-caps: “JUST DOWNLOAD CHROME.” A third, clearly written by a goblin, suggested editing the Windows Registry. Arthur felt his soul leave his body.

He clicked it.

It had happened earlier that evening. His daughter, Lily, needed to print a book report. “Just drag the file to the printer icon, Dad,” she’d said. Arthur had stared at the screen. Printer icon? Everything had vanished. The little search bar he used to type “Google” into—the one that always took him to the familiar, comforting white page with the colorful letters—was gone. In its place was a blank taskbar, a terrifying digital void.

He called out, “Lily! Come here!”

He tried a different approach. He opened his web browser—the blue e—and went to Google.com. He stared at the beautiful, empty page. The colorful “Google” logo. The blinking cursor in the search bar. It was right there, on his screen. But how do you put a website on a bar ?