Review: Chuckisms
OK, let me start out this review by saying upfront that Chuckisms is definitely a one trick pony, and I fully admit I am into this pony, so take this review with a grain of salt.
Chuckisms is an iPhone app that aims to consolidate all the hilarious “facts” about karate legend Chuck “Walker: Texas Ranger” Norris that are strewn about the web and put them onto your iPhone or iPod touch. Each “fact” appears, one at a time, accompanied by the sound of a “punch to the face” sound effect. Simply tap the screen to see the next Chuckism.
There are over 350 Chuckisms here, and they appear to come on in random order, as I have seen 2 or 3 repeats so far in the first 80 or so Chuckisms I’ve viewed, but so far they are all gold.
Of course, some would argue (and legitimately so) that there is no need for such an app, because:
A) It’s stupid
and
b) why pay 99¢ for something you can see on your iPhone’s Safari browser if you Google “Chuckism”?
Well, I can’t argue either of those points, but suffice it to say, for some reason I find these things hysterical, and whenever I miss a dose or 2 of my Lexipro, I fire up my Chuckisms, hit through a good 5 or 6, and I am happy again. It’s honestly a real mood changer, and much cheaper than my meds.
If you are unfamiliar with Chuckisms, I’d like to share a few of my favorites with you:
Issues
Well, aside from the 2 issues I mentioned above (it’s stupid, and free if you want to spend the time Googleing) there are a couple other issues that somewhat hamper Chuckisms. First, it occurs to me that the developer of Chuckisms likely did not write a single one of these, and therefore the true authors are not being compensated in any way. However, I believe in general that Chuckisms are contributed more or less anonymously to the web by devotees of Chuck, so really there is no realistic way credit could be given.
However, the one are that does bother me in the overall feeling of zero effort being put forth here, design-wise. I suppose using a picture of Chuck would likely get the app pulled, but this lame orange serif font over black kills me. The design needs some sprucing up, a choice of colors, fonts, backdrops… something. Maybe an animated loop of fire footage from the Fireplace app. Also, a set of more transitions between facts would be good, both in effects and painful sounding fight sound effects.
Still, all that being said, I am very happy that someone thought to bring Chuckisms to the iPhone, and I do not regret my 99¢ purchase. Although I AM upset I had to pay tax on it. I know Chuck wouldn’t.
Pros: Funny
Cons: Arguably should be free, lacks extras or any real design sense
Awe heck yeah!
Definitely buying this one.
No longer will I have to be Chuckism deficient while flying. You can’t Google anything from most commercial aircraft, just think how often this will come in handy on those long flights… ok don’t think too hard, but still, it’s nice to have just in case right?
Buy it or Chuck Norris will come to your house and roundhouse kick you…