Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Internet, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Smule's Zephyr sends snowy messages around the world
And maybe this will be another one: Smule, the company behind Ocarina, has decided to follow up with a new app called Zephyr (not to be confused with the MacBook cooling system) that seems just as silly to me. You can draw out messages with an airy sound-and-snowflake interface, and then send those messages blowing around the world (represented, in the official video above, by Las Vegas) to random people who, if they like your messages, will pass them on around the Internet. "What's the point?" you might say, and in that opinion, I'd agree with you. There are lots of ways to send messages around the world, and more than a few of them are quite free and will let you be clearer than drawing snow with wind sounds in the background.
But then again, I didn't see a point to Ocarina, and that made plenty of money. Zephyr is available on the App Store right now for 99 cents. And if you do jump in and buy it, make sure to tell us exactly why in the comments below.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
PMSG said 5:36PM on 12-29-2008
I just think it's funny that their interpretation of Around-the-World seems to all take place in Las Vegas....!
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ctferrara said 5:40PM on 12-29-2008
I think that trackthat.org is a great site for tracking things. it does the same thing as this app without paying!
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dr727 said 5:42PM on 12-29-2008
To participate in a new experiment in interactivity on a platform that has proven to be (arguably) the most compelling for experimentation at the moment.
Sure, there's profit involved, but it's not an exorbitant price -- it's the price of a candy bar. And should be considered as such, perhaps.
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Adam Willis said 6:09PM on 12-29-2008
I don't get it.
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vw said 6:27PM on 12-29-2008
At least iFart does something.
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Gregory House said 6:33PM on 12-29-2008
"I'm willing to accept that there are best-selling apps out there that I think are dumb."
I'm willing to accept that you are a pretentious idiot.
See what I just did there?
Apparently, in your case at least, this job could be done by a monkey with a MacBook. And your posts tend to be the silliest, most pointless ones I've "see" on this blog.
~Greg
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rich said 6:54PM on 12-29-2008
a little harsh on the author, but in a sense i have to agree. it's clear he didn't splurge on the .99c to buy and use the app, and it completely misses the point to say there are 'lots of free ways to send messages.'
also, anyone who sees Ocarina and thinks "that's dumb" clearly doesn't get what's so amazing about the iPhone. it's the first app i show to wow people, and it never fails.
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Paddy O'Reilly O'Schwartzenburg said 7:02PM on 12-29-2008
I have no use for most social networking apps, yet I find this one interesting. Only people who launch that app on their iPhone will be bothered by it, and it puts center-stage the portion of Ocarina that I find most compelling: the ability to anonymously see something creative that some else is doing live, anywhere else on the globe.
I don't really care about Twitter or any other app that lets me know what others are doing right now; that just shows me how boring someone else's life is. Zephyr is creative instead of mundane.
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Kai Cherry said 8:22PM on 12-29-2008
I ca't believe I'm doing this, because I am a HUGe supporter of, and defender of this site and the bloggers here but Mike...I gotta ask...
WTF?
What exactly is "pointless" and"silly" about Ocarina? By all reasonable measures and definitions Ocarina is quite an innovative piece of software and, believe it or not, seems to make people around the world pretty goddamned *happy*.
I won't go as far as to call you pretentious, but I will instead ask you what is your idea of an iPhone app that isn't "pointless" and "silly"?
-K
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Hank Graham said 7:21PM on 12-29-2008
The point of the Ocarina is the connection. There's something cool about turning on its network interface, and listening to someone else playing it from half a world away. It's like listening to ham radio and connecting with folks you'd never meet otherwise.
And what's really interesting is how many people are getting really good at playing it.
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Rudy said 8:25PM on 12-29-2008
ocarina is not dumb, it turned the iphone into a musical instument, thats pretty damn col
this IS dumb though.
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Rahul Kumar said 9:09PM on 12-29-2008
outside of Rolando, Ocarina is the only app I've bought. Why?
Because I'm a musician, and trying out new things is cool. Not only does it allow you to listen to others play, it also saves your music to a Smule account online for playback, and allows for great experimentation overall. Maybe you should try it out sometime.
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jazzjackrabbit86 said 11:12PM on 12-29-2008
Really? This and Ocarina are silly, yet you cover iFart as if it's a relevant piece of software.
Alrighty then....
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elitemrp said 12:13AM on 12-30-2008
The ocarina app made me buy 2 real ocarinas and learn how to play them. So it wasn't pointless to me.
Their other apps are kind of pointless though, but I still enjoy them.
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Dave said 1:03AM on 12-30-2008
While I haven't (yet) tried this application, I had the same thoughts you did about Ocarina; but my wife insisted on trying it. I must admit, it's fantastic. Simple, easy, and fun. Plus, I like the fact that as a musician I can take an "instrument" with me wherever I go.
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JAQ said 9:50AM on 12-30-2008
It is... not logical. [raised eyebrow]
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Mark d said 4:38PM on 12-30-2008
Mike strikes again with his holier-than-thou opinion. It is most humbling that you deem us worthy to write for and guide us in what is truly important and what is "dumb".
Too bad we can't vote + or - on his posts.
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Michael M. said 8:01AM on 1-01-2009
Ocarina? Pointless? It's a $1 ocarina. A really crappy off-pitch untuned Peruvian pendent ocarina would normally run you $5. Plus, since you can change what key the Ocarina app is in in the menu, it's like having a whole bunch of pendent ocarinas in your pocket.
It is your right to consider the Ocarina app pointless, but this does raise some questions in my mind. I suppose a real ocarina is pointless and silly as well? A Violin? A piano? A guitar?
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Vikram said 10:57AM on 1-05-2009
Why would you buy a game? - To have fun.
Ocarina was not pointless. It was good fun. Zephyr is similar. The whole point is to have fun. And buying this app is as good as buying any game.
http://iphonegamereviews.wordpress.com/
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MSaldana said 12:58AM on 1-08-2009
In all the time that I have been reading TUAW, this is the first time that a post bothered me.
What an arrogant and pretentious attitude of this blogger.
I hope this will not become a trend in the site.
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