App-tastic: This Rocks

I try not to fall for too many gimmicks when it comes to adding apps to my iPhone, but this one sent me hurtling in the way-back machine to a simpler time. Perhaps, the mid-1970s? It was a time when merchandising to kids was a much simpler, less insidious enterprise – but still deeply effective.

Magic Rocks. I wanted this product. And I wanted it bad. The box said it all: Grow a beautiful underwater garden in minutes!

If those words sound familiar to you, then I'm glad to know that I'm not the oldest human being alive. You probably also remember H.R. Pufnstuf, MAD Magazine and Sea Monkies (the original ones that read newspapers and had cute faces).

But Magic Rocks held such intrigue for me, their simple colored rocks transforming into beautiful towers of crystalized salts right before your eyes.

And now, two disparate worlds of modern technology and old-school chemistry have collided: I can now "grow" them with pixels rather than in a jar with a dandy iPhone app. Sure, the visceral experience is gone, but I can now add a clown fish and a scuba diver and annoy my friends on Facebook with updates and ratings of my spectacular rock gardens. I can even add my own photo as a background to my rocks. And my mom will be happy that there's not a gloopy mess on my bedroom dresser (oh, wait, just slipped back to that era again).

Isn't technology great?