Application means Louis has last laugh
Embracing the latest technology, Louis Harwood, who runs Avalore Studios, provides solutions for businesses – and iPhone applications (third party software programmes) are his speciality.
And risking the wrath of his comedy hero, who caught the world's imagination with some incredible web-based antics and is not adverse to making those who approach him subjects, he wrote and offered his services, which were duly accepted.
Mr Harwood, who is based in Grimsby Business Centre in King Edward Street, said: "My brother and I have a strange sense of humour. We really enjoyed reading his website and we had been fans for a while. We wrote a letter to him in a similar style to his work, stating that I thought his content would make for a really good app. He is quite intimidating and there was a chance that we could be the subject of his humour and we would be the person everyone was laughing at.
"But while at first he seemed not too sure about working with a random person from the other side of the world, he saw a draft version and was pleased."
Priced at £1.79, more than 3,000 apps were downloaded in the first few weeks, working on a revenue share with the man who attempted to settle a bill with a picture of a seven-legged spider, then published the e-mail correspondence to global appeal.
Underlining how you don't have to be a big software house to create with new technology, Mr Harwood said: "If you have the ability and know about programming you can get involved. You have to pay $99 a year for a licensed developer account, to write an application and publish it. Then it is up to you how you price the application. They range from 59p to a couple of thousands pounds.
"For each sale Apple takes 30 per cent, you keep the rest. It is a growing sector now it is becoming a popular platform.
"There is so much scope. Apple's tag line is 'there's an app for that'. You can think of any hobby, no matter how niche, and find an app for something to do with it. There are so many opportunities."
Mr Harwood began programming in his early teens, taking night classes while doing his GCSEs.
Having opened a sky diving school in Madrid and worked there for a few years, he "returned to the real world" and picked up his passion for new media.
He said: "I developed websites for sky-diving teams and businesses while in Spain, but I really got back into it when I came home. I was working in web design and development, but that is a hugely saturated market. There is virtually one web designer for every 1,000 people, so I concentrated on iPhone development, working on solutions. I am not a designer, I don't make things look pretty, I provide a solution for someone."
Comment on this story