February 07,2013
This week brings the sad news that André Cassagnes, the creator of the Etch a Sketch, has died aged 86.
Looking around the average toy shop at present day tablets, leap-pads and digital easels, its easy to understand their popularity when you consider the impact the Etch a Sketch had on popular culture on its release in 1960 and on its way to becoming a bestseller.
Initially called "L'Ecran Magique", Cassagnes came upon the Etch a Sketch idea in the late 1950s when he peeled a translucent decal from a light switch plate and found pencil mark images transferred to the opposite face. Since its release, more than 100 million have been sold and, although it did dip out of favour for a while, the 1995 film Toy Story saw a second surge in popularity.
The huge popularity and the toy's influence can even be seen in modern day technology and mobile working.
œPopular consumer technology has progressed so much in recent years with the advent of the iPad, says Oneserve technical director Rob Lucas. œConsumers now expect tech and software to be enjoyable and easy to use and much more intuitive. This trend has entered the workplace “ as more and more consumers have brought their expectations to work and are now demanding work-based kit and apps to be as easy to use as the ones they use in their personal lives.
œHere at Oneserve we recently released Oneserve 8 “ the latest version of our software which works on all mobile devices, including tablets and iPads, adds Rob Lucas. œWith Oneserve 8 we wanted to make our software much more enjoyable to use. One such feature is the use of charts within our dashboards, not only designed to make management information quick and easy to understand but a bit more fun to use, too.
It seems we all have André Cassagnes to thank for introducing a level of fun and enjoyment into the hand-held devices which are so prevalent in our work and personal lives today.
