Things Come & Go : The Story of Flappy Bird

I guess you’ve all heard about the mobile app Flappy Bird. The game involves tapping your device's screen to propel a small bird through a series of strategically placed pipes. The app – with Super Nintendo-style graphics – itself was simple but so frustrating and endless. A game you can barely play for more than a few seconds without throwing your phone across the room in frustration. Despite that, Flappy bird became a global phenomenon and took over the web, only in just a few weeks.

History

The game was designed and built by Dong Nguyen, a developer who lives in Vietnam.

• It all began in November 2012, when Nguyen shared an image of a game he was working on via Twitter. 5 month later, he shared the first splash screen for the new iOS game, called Flap Flap. A month goes by with no update on Flap Flap. It turns out that there was already another app in the App Store with that same name Flap Flap. And Flappy Bird was born…

• The game made its App Store debut on May 24, 2013.

• On Sept. 2013, Nguyen released his first update to Flappy Bird. It fixed a few bugs, and he added a new icon for iOS 7. The app did not initially make a huge dent in the download charts. But suddenly, Flappy Bird entered the “Family” category. A few days later, Flappy Bird made its first appearance on Twitter aside from Nguyen's initial tweets. The game continued to rise in popularity. It became known for its difficulty – a challenge which smartphone users found irresistible – and the number of players began to  increase.

• On Dec. 11, he mentioned there would come an Android version of the app.

• From then on, Twitter users started to tweet more about the game and were creating memes related to their frustrations. Nguyen retweeted some of the more humorous images:

• On jan. 10, the app became a top-10 app in the United states, which is a major milestone. Within one week, it became the most downloaded app on Google Play.

• BUT Flappy Bird’s success and the received attention Nguyen got, was impacting his life for the worse. Nguyen began receiving abusive messages, hate tweets and death threats, from users. He was called an ‘evil genius’ for developing such a devilish game. Other messages were sent with an angrier tone as players became increasingly frustrated.

• Flappy Bird is gone forever because Nguyen couldn’t handle it and the app was just too addictive. His life had become overrun by the success of the game.

“I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore. It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore. I also don’t sell ‘Flappy Bird’, please don’t ask. And I still make games.”

Popularity

According to Mashable, Flappy Bird is the perfect example of how an app can go viral, thanks to social media and word of mouth. It was the perfect storm of circumstance, luck and viral drive. Nguyen chalked up the game's success to pure luck. He told TechCrunch, "I don't know how my games can be so popular. Most of my players are kids in schools. I would like to thank them for playing my game and sharing it to other people."

The game has had at least 50 million downloads, and amassed nearly 16 million tweets.

You can still play Flappy Bird, when you’ve already downloaded it. So smartphones, included with the Flappy Bird app, could bring in some money!

Source: http://mashable.com/2014/02/10/flappy-bird-story/

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

My Fitbit Flex Experience! Wait, Fitbit What?

New year, new goals of course! I don't know why, but suddenly I'm obsessed with fitness. Yes, I'm all into squats, lunges and burpees. So 'to be more active' is my cliché goal for 2014.

Squat for the ass you’ve always wanted!

Squats

Lunges

Burpees

Training and working out is a bit rare in my family. So my parents are definitely supporting me. They gave me a perfect Christmas present, namely the Fitbit Flex! My new favourite gadget. 

The Fitbit What? I’ll explain:

Fitbit’s Flex is a great fitness tracker, an all-in-one activity monitor , which contains of two parts:

• The Flex itself - a small rectangular device that can be charged using the USB dock
• A rubber wristband that can monitor your daily activity.
• Also included is a dongle which allows users to sync Flex –wirelessly- with their computer.

It is entirely water resistant.  Flex’s wristband is available in different colors: black, blue, green and pink. I have the black one because it has to match to my clothes, right girls? 

The product pack includes two different band sizes – a large and small one.

Your activity can be viewed in detail using either Fitbit’s Web dashboard or its application. The app is available in the app store and Google Play. They both - dashboard and app - offer in-depth information, textually or graphically.  

Burn calories, burn!!!

Over the course of the day, Flex can track and record 

• the amount of steps someone takes
• the total distance traveled
• the number of “active minutes"
• the calories burned.

Your Fitbit account will be updated the next time Flex connects through either the wireless dongle or its application.

You can also use Flex to record your food and water intake, your weight and your sleep. You can even start an individualized “food plan”. But I’ll pass this one, I love food too much to start a food plan.

You can check your goals by simply tapping the wristband twice: five white LED lights will flash, indicating the percentage of your daily goal that’s so far been achieved – the dots representing 20 percent increments. This is awesome because you can check on your progress without having to launch the app.

  

My Experience

The device is my constant companion, my new best friend for about a month now. I feel informed about my activity levels and I’m very motivated to get moving and achieving my goals. It is fun because you can set daily goals for each aspect. The default goals which Fitbit offers are 10,000 steps, five miles, 2,852 calories, and 30 active minutes. You had to see my face when I had more then 10 000 steps a day for the first time!  

I find myself frequently tapping, just to see the pretty glowing dots appear and get an update. That simple action kept me more motivated to increase my activity, without even needing to open the app. So you can say that Flex has encouraged me to be (even) more active. 

Another reason why Fitbit keeps me motivated, is because you can earn badges! And now we are talking about marketing. Integrating the gamification aspect makes it more popular. We all, especially Gen Y, want to be the very best in everything. 

Even Pokémon said it: "I will be the very best, like no one ever was. Gotta catch 'em all! Every challenge along the way". 

Unlocking badges gives us the great feeling of success. By connecting your Facebook account and finding other Fitbit users (which is possible), you can compete with your friends. The company knew that integrating this feature, would be a clever thing to do. Because why do you think Foursquare or Nike+ are such popular apps? We want to compete and succeed, we want to be harder, better, faster, stronger! What we want, is INSTANT GRATIFICATION! And that is the main principle. 

Fitbit understands... 

It’s non-intrusive and easy to use. The battery life is good. I just have to charge my tracker once a week, which is great.

If I had one complaint, it is that the wrist band is difficult to fasten! 

SO I'M VERY GLAD I HAVE A FITBIT FLEX! Even going to my school, Ehsal - Digital Marketing in Brussels, is fun now cause every step counts! 

What do you think about these and other fitness trackers?

Source: appadvice: Take control of your lifestyle with the wearable fitbit flex

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

2013: Great Memories, 2014: New You?

It’s that time of the year! I can't believe that tomorrow is already 2013's last day. I just want to wish you a very happy new year and may all your wishes come true. I bet 2014 will be even better than 2013!

Time to celebrate and think about the good memories of 2013

What if you could bring all your best moments of 2013 to life? AWESOME! Of course you can. Most of us love capturing moments and taking pictures with our smartphone, thanks to Instagram. We all have tons of photos!

2013 in review: Flipagram

Flipagram is a free app - available on the app store and Android-  where you can create and share a beautiful short video slideshow  using your photos, set to music you love. Just link up your Instagram account and pull directly from it. You can manually choose the length of each slide and when all that is done, you just choose a great song from your music library to go along with the Flipagram video.

Now it’s time to share your moments of awesomeness in 2013 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and so on. It’s a great way to get a little nostalgic with your photos and get others to experience it with you.

You can check my Flipagram ‘Memories 2013’: http://flipagram.com/f/GSogR7Zq6d

New year, new me?

Every single time we set ourselves achievable goals for the next year. And every single time, it is a fiasco. Well, let me help you by introducing some apps that will encourage you achieving your goals.

• ‘Everest’ seems to be a great app! It is designed to help you live your dreams and focus on goals and achieve them along with the help of others. Steps towards your goal can be added as you need them. I really love this concept, unfortunately it is only available in the app store.
• Stress?! Need some chill-pill?  ‘Take a break’ is an app for you. It lets your stress melt away. Relax easily as you are voice-guided step by step. Choose a relaxing audio and begin your relaxation for 7 or 13 minutes. (ios-android)
• This is cliché: suddenly everyone wants to stop smoking (ha-ha). Maybe you will, with ‘QuitNow’!It is the most complete tool to quit smoking and it helps you to cope with anxiety. You’ll see the time since your last cigarette (minutes, days, hours,..), how many cigarettes you have avoided and most important: the money you have saved! (ios-android)
• If you want to lose weight, ‘Lose It!’ will help you to stay in your calorie budget. (ios – android)
• Last but not least: you want a date? There are plenty of dating apps, such as ‘Tinder’, ‘Badoo’, ‘Skout’ and many more. 

Hope you can achieve your goals! Happy 2014!

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

All The Single Ones, Meet Tinder!

Online dating, why not? In the U.S. it is the most common thing to do. Tinder is an app that sets people up with romantic matches by geographic proximity and age. It is how THE dating scene looks like for the millennial generation. So if you are single, if you want to meet some people or if you just want to have a laugh, download Tinder on your smartphone.

Oh no, hot or not?

Yes indeed, it is like the ‘hot or not’ game, hilarious! It allows users to swipe through the photos. If you click the heart button, it means you like the person. And if you swipe to the  left, you will never have to see that ugly face again. You only see some photos (profile pics), common Facebook friends and common Facebook ‘interests’. So yes, it is based on someone’s appearences. Users have to have Facebook, because Tinder uses your account.

Yaaay, I have a match!

When you like someone, the person won’t be aware of that. But if he or she likes you too, you have a match! After being matched, you are able to chat, share links to favorite poems (so not done), exchange numbers, or do whatever you want to do. I am not really good at this. The guys have to take the next step, right girls?

My experience as Misses Picky

I have downloaded the app because I was curious, and seriously, who doesn’t want to receive attention? Besides, I have heard a lot about this app so this made me want to check it out.

So I have decided to limit my ‘circle’ with boys of 21 to 26 years old and within a distance of maximum 30 kilometers. Unfortunately, this app made me realize –again- that I am Misses Picky! I only want the best, the most beautiful boys in the world. Why oh why? That is why I already worked through my circle, no boys anymore near Ghent, great... Only 5 likes and 4 re-likes (matches). And they didn’t even begin chatting with me, thanks guys. 

I have also noticed that there are some users who are already in a relationship. That is NOT what the app was made for actually. But stating the obvious, everyone loves attention, especially if it comes from the other sex. It is the best feeling when someone ‘likes’ you and you have a match, even if you are in a relationship.

On top of that, it is always so hilarious when you see someone you know, especially when they are lying about their age!

Tinder is just fun! So yes, I recommend you –the singles- to take a look at it.

What do you think of online dating nowadays?

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

My Time at Showpad as an Intern

As a final-year student of Communication Management at Artevelde University College, I was expected to do an internship for 4 months. I’ve chosen Showpad because mobile devices are the future so I definitely knew it would be an interesting enterprise. On top of that, Showpad is situated in the center of Ghent, which is of course the most beautiful city in Belgium.

So very excited, all well and good, BUT….Starting somewhere new while not knowing what specific role you get, not knowing what your capacities are and doubting about your competences, scared the hell out of me.

The beginning

Showpad made this easy for me by being very welcoming and supporting. First and foremost, I had to understand and work with the Showpad-application. No bad word will come out of my mouth! Then they introduced me to the newest marketing technique, which is not yet well-known in Belgium. From then on, I was the Inbound Marketing intern. I am deeply grateful for that because I feel like I am one step ahead of others in Belgium. Inbound marketing is just such a great technique because there is no need to push information to customers, which is very irritating. It is about creating relevant content that really helps them. Finally! Showpad is a start-up, so I experienced right from the beginning the launch of inbound marketing at the enterprise and the very first results of using it. A-we-some!

Tasks

Writing blog posts, setting up a Pinterest account, making a welcoming brochure,  helping the content creator with everyday tasks she has to deal with as an inbound marketer, were some of the many interesting tasks I got. At the beginning, they even challenged me for giving a presentation about inbound marketing. Due to my shyness, this definitely was something out of my comfort zone. But I am very grateful for that. Showpad is an international company so everything should be done in English.

They didn’t expect I knew everything. They wanted me to make mistakes and learn from them, which I definitely did. I think that after these 4 months, I have expanded my writing abilities and my English. And most important, according to Hubspot (inbound marketing specialist), I am now fully capable and skilled in the methodology of inbound marketing. I’ve been tested on best practices and I’m now in possession of a certification.

I can rightfully say that I have come out of this experience as a more knowledgeable person!

Atmosphere

What this internship made even more unforgettable, is the atmosphere and interaction between colleagues. I’ve never known the feeling of having -like they say- ‘a second family’. Well, now I have. Everyone is being so nice. There isn’t a cold formal atmosphere here, which is great. They are very professional though. Everyone is so passionate about what he/she does. So passionate that it is almost common to work 10 hours a day. (Say what?!)

A day that I’ll never forget is the teambuilding day to welcome new employees (Americans). It was a great day where I got to know everyone that little bit better. We were spoiled and I felt like I was a real colleague.

Many thanks

So I would like to thank the Showpad team, especially Anabel De Vetter & Louis Jonckheere, for letting me be a part of all the excitement for my last semester at school. The past few months have been an amazing learning opportunity and a great deal of fun.

My internship experience has provided me with a newfound passion for (inbound) marketing. That’s why I’ll feed my interest a little bit more by studying Digital Communications in Brussels next year.

Thanks,
Brett Dufort