The inventor of that game lives right here in Toledo and is working on his next blockbuster app.
Toledoan Matthew Braun, a computer engineer, knew the iPhone would be big. "We were brainstorming in 2008 and at the time, I wanted 1% of the market."
He invented a game for kids called "MASH" that came out in 2009. "It's an acronym for Mansion Apartment Shack House."
It was pretty popular on the iPhone, then the iTouch came out. "That really made it blow up."
The game costs 99 cents. There's a free version and a pay version and between both of them, it's over a million downloads. Apple even called it an app store essential.
Braun, who develops websites like Toledo Menu, is working on his next game. "I have another game called Liberty Boom and we'll be releasing an iPad version."
Braun believes the future of computing is mobile-- meaning more and more of us will be online wherever we are and he's poised to turn from Toledo app developer to technology magnate. "Even when I was in college, I wanted to work for myself, grow my own business and people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are influences." It appears he's on his way.
