Screen Savers Ad Nauseum

D. A.

Screen savers, those neat little utility programs that pop up flying toasters, sea horses, and bespectacled cows, have become big business for software companies. Currently, the Software Publishers Association (Washington, DC) tracks screen-saver programs with other utility programs, so it's hard to tell how much revenue this category generates. But Berkeley Systems (Berkeley, CA), developer of the popular After Dark screen-saver program, says it has sold over 1 million copies of the program.

Why has this product category become so popular? Three reasons: PCs, as they become hooked into the corporate network, are becoming less personal, and screen savers let people reclaim a little measure of individuality by letting them put zany characters on their screen. Second, corporations are using programs l ike Pleasonton, California-based Aristo-Soft's CD-Blaster and Media Blitz 3.0 from Asymetrix, which let them insert their own company logo with a motivational or informational message along with it. Third, most screen savers offer password protection, which adds a measure of security to all this fun. New entries to this category include (clockwise from top right): Marvel Comics Screen Posters (Berkeley Systems); BYTE's screen-saver program; Jurassic Park (Asymetrix, Bellevue, WA); Opus 'n Bill (Delrina, San Jose, CA); and the Snoopy Screen Saver (Image Smith, Torrance, CA).