Etch A Sketch – Review

Our rating:

By: Freeze Tag

Version #: 1

Date Released: 2008-07-10

Developer:

Price: 4.99

User Rating:

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I downloaded the Etch A Sketch app and played with it for a bit.

It was a nice a nice piece of nostalgia for me but that was about it. Then again, I’m not the target demographic for an app like this.

As luck would have it a dear friend who has three kids ages 5, 4 and 1 1/2 was visiting for the day. He is thinking about getting an iPhone and had been playing with mine on and off (read non-stop!) with it for the past day. I handed it to him and had him comment while using it.

Here, in order, are his words.

"I wouldn’t pay for it… actually, I would not pay more than $2 for it.

Hmmm, it is easy to use with your fingers. Kinda neat.

Actually, it doesn’t really do anything.

Hmmm, many of the more interesting features say "coming soon". That makes it feel kind of half-baked. And you paid what for this?
 
(Plays some more) 

"Export to  photo album- now that’s pretty neat. Another will be coming soon… and another. Wow. Not good."

(Plays some more. Voice goes up) 

"Placing pre-drawn shapes on the screen by using the multi-touch– now that’s pretty neat. It is easy to save the drawings.. that’s cool. And it is easy to use, the other features would be nice."

I asked him if he thought his kids would like it. His response-

"I think they would like it and it would hold their interest. That would depend on their age etc… obviously. For a slightly older kid I could see them taking it on a trip or playing with it in a car. Won’t hold their interest for a ton of time but that’s the nature of kids. It certanly is a nice thing and they would get a kick out of this."

I asked if he had anything to add. He said, "Now that I have played with it I would buy it but for not much more that $2 or $3. Maybe I would get it at 4.99 but at would but it but at 2-3 it would be a slam dunk."

That was his commentary. This is mine-  

The guy is in his 40s and was fascinated by it. He play around with it for a long time and every few seconds I heard "Wow", "Neat" etc…

My friend’s kids might like Etc-A Sketch but he definitely did.

While it may not hold his kid’s inerest, it certainly held his.