Light My Fire: Zippo Lighter Review

What separated the iPhone from the smart phone pack and made it a solid industry leader was not just its reputations as a portable media device. The marketing, as well as the infrastructure that was created for it, was geared toward one thing: fun. Products like the Blackberry, though adequate in terms of technology, did not show itself to bring as much entertainment to the average user as Apple did during its inception. Many programs have absolutely no practical applications, or even engagement. Their purpose is for simple “gag” effect, which is the kind of thing your average iTunes browser finds satisfying enough to download. This is the principle behind the Zippo Lighter application.

Zippo Lighter is an iPhone port of a Zippo lighter. Confused? When you open the application you are able to choose a lighter that will be your mainstay. From here on out every time you open the application you will have that lighter there. From here you are able to interact with the lighter using the touch screen. You can flip it open, light it, and blow it out. You may be asking yourself why, and that is valid. The answer is that it is fun, and that is all.

The touch screen is incredibly responsive, and the lighter will respond to shaking the phone as well as blowing into the microphone. If you were to restabilize the phone the flame would move, possibly even going out. Feel free to flip it open and closed without even touching the touch screen and just flipping the whole phone. You can even start to try and do tricks, though you will be a little more limited than you would be with an actual Zippo. Hey, maybe you should buy one! This is, of course, a cheap marketing ploy to further popularize the Zippo brand. They have successfully infected the pop culture where Zippo collecting is comparable to that done with basketball cards and disturbingly small spoons. Once you get over this you realize that this is just a bunch of brief fun, and that is the most you can ask for from your iPhone 3G. Eight stars out of ten.