Doozla: Skitch for Kids
Ahh, MacWorld, one of my favorite times of the year (and not just because it happens to be right around my birthday). Not only did his Jobsiness bless us mere mortals with such goodies as the MacBook Air, and the Apple TV (take 2), but it gives us a chance to see software releases from other independent Mac developers.
Plasq, a company well known in the Mac software industry (and a favorite of mine) this year introduced Doozla. Doozla is basically a refined version of Skitch (which we’ve written about before), but without the same level of screenshot integration, and a bumped up UI and demeanor that screams let your kids play with me!
Doozla is a fresh-looking program just announced at MacWorld this week. Its purpose is to “Play to Learn”, and it encourages young Mac users to explore their creative sides and just have fun. It’s a far cry from the coloring books of yesteryear, and IMHO, a nice step for the future.
The main screen of Doozla is incredibly simple: 4 simple options present themselves when you first open the quick and lightweight app. You can color in, using any of the various built in outlines that the app bundles, simply doodle and draw, draw on a snapshop from an iSight camera, or draw on a user-selected background.
The guys at plasq have kept in many of the features that we love from Skitch, but have expanded on many of the functions. For example, there’s a nice, kid friendly color palette that you can use, as well as different tools displayed in a very kid friendly manner. Also, when you click on a tool, you can hear what you’re clicking on being said out loud, another subtle but nice touch to keep the kids interested.
As a bonus, like Skitch, Doozla has built in Tablet support which worked absolutely flawlessly on my Wacom Cintiq. Pressure sensitivity was spot on, and everything really worked like a charm.
Doozla is available immediately from plasq’s website. A single user license will set you back $24.95, but that’s still a bit less than hiring a babysitter.
Seems pretty cool.
Looks nice, but a bit expensive for an application for kids…..
Anywho, happy belated (or early) birthday!