I’ve been reading Clay Shirky (www.shirky.com), a futurologist who spends his time thinking about what fundamental changes the Internet is going to make to our society.

So beginning a column about the recent launch of the 3G iPhone and its supporting App Store requires, I guess, some kind of accusation that if you don't know what I'm talking about you're living under a rock or some other dank place. But let's skip the preamble and get to the point: although populated with great content, I've been left a bit wary by the launch of the iPhone games despite starting out, last Friday, as an eager reporter thinking it might herald the next big thing.

Last week, after a particularly manic print deadline on my other magazine responsibility, Develop, had passed, I turned to the internet for a mental break. Specifically, I went straight to Kongregate and lost what must have been 90 minutes to the absent-minded post-deadline slump.

We all know that the online content industry is worth millions of dollars, but today millions of sales are lost due to inefficient or incomplete payment services that do not solve all the concerns of the customer and cater to their every need. How we fix this and turn browsing consumers into paying customers has been a long-running issue for the casual games market.

First, my credentials… I teach at the department of nutrition. I was involved in all the aspects of Ubisoft’s My Health Coach as a consultant.