Introduction

Wait? What's a screensaver? Didn't we need those back in the dark ages, when computers were measured by kilobytes, hertz, and single-bit amber screens? Well, turns out there's not much technical need today for saving LCD- and LED-based screens, besides turning them off when not using them, however modern OLED tech might be in danger of image retention burn-in effects. Burn-in is an excellent way to destroy a monitor, where the result of static images and user interface elements over many years melt holes through the glass. Well, OK, not really holes, but the phosphors might never heal and the images will remain even when turned off. The nightmares of electric sheep everywhere might still be with us.

In the late 1980s, Pyro, a simulated fireworks show, was the most famous of screensavers for machines like the Mac Plus or SE. It was followed by the color Pyro II for the Macintosh II. The release of the Flying Toasters brigades in the early 1990s for Mac, and eventually Windows, made the screensaver engine After Dark, and its publisher Berkeley Systems, and the entire concept of a ''screensaver'', household names. They followed up their success with themed screensaver products for The Simpsons, Looney Tunes, and Star Trek. Screensavers were no longer just utilities, but complete entertainment, or, at the least, fantastic procrastination.

But how does iScreensaver fit into this? Well, as software makers, we had been creating After Dark-related screensavers since 1990, for numerous corporate clients as well as over one hundred colleges and universities around the US. Creating multi-platform software can be difficult, and being able to produce identical software for both Mac and Windows from just a single one of those systems, is rare, almost artisanal in nature. But we hated doubling our production work, so we made multi-platform compatibility our speciality. When Berkeley Systems looked to outsource their entire custom corporate After Dark screensaver business in 1996, they found us.

So, we made custom screensavers for years. And years. And years. And finally, we got tired of making screensavers, so we decided to take our tools that we created to make our screensavers, and create a toolkit so our clients could go make them themselves. Now, we've been doing that for years... (want a copy?)

With iScreensaver, you've got the world's only multi-platform screensaver designing tool kit made by the team with more screensaver experience than any other.

and now it's time to play . . .

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