In a day and age when the history of the great nation we live in is often neglected, especially by the younger generations, it’s good to see an app like this in the iTunes App Store. Martin Luther King Jr. Speeches, by Phil Bosua is a lightweight app that is rich with history.
The app is a mobile collection of excerpts from MLK’s best speeches, including news reports of his shooting. These speeches echo the social crises of the time, and truly give a taste of the time to those who have studied, but perhaps have never heard, Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful speeches. Despite the fact that these are not full recordings, and the app is actually aimed at being more of a sound board, the clips are quite long. This app gives the impression of a tool for reference, rather than a soundboard to prank the telemarketer that calls your house during dinner ever Tuesday and Thursday.
The app has a single interface, which is very simple to use. There is a scroller, which contains the list of the speeches. Below that, there is a picture of King and the play button. The only thing about the interface that I really don’t agree with is the “More Sounds” button, which is very deceiving. Allow me to spoil the surprise: The app launches Safari and takes you to some random website selling a Z-Day survival guide — and a couple other random items. I would assume that if you are charging 99 cents you wouldn’t need to use little gimmicks like this, but apparently not.
Overall, I like the app. The sound quality of the recordings is excellent. I just wish that little link was not there and that you had a bit more control over the audio playback. But hey, 99 cents for these inspiring soundbites that speak of freedom and peace? I’d say it’s a good buy.
