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Apple’s second most popular App Store download of all time, and our choice as the number three money maker for Apple, is Koi Pond. The success of the Koi Pond app surprised us a bit, as it managed to leap ahead of many games in paid download popularity. Koi Pond has had an impressive history at the App Store. It was the top paying download of 2008, and is certainly one of the most talked about apps in iPhone discussion groups. Koi Pond is the highest grossing app for Apple in the Entertainment category of iPhone downloads. Koi Pond sells for 99 cents, which is certainly the most popular price at the App Store (aside from free games). The Blimp Pilots, a five-person development team that created Koi Pond, also markets two other 99 cent iPhone apps: Name in Lights (an LED lighting simulator) and Distant Shore (which uses 3D beach graphics as the background for sending and receiving “messages in a bottle” to and from other random iPhone users). Koi Pond is one of the closest things to a screen saver that we’ve seen for the iPhone. True screen savers have not appeared in the App Store, most likely due to Apple’s ongoing concern with battery-life issues. |
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By Anthony Celeste , published on June 10, 2009 at 12:51 PM
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Maybe people don't realize the pure amount of drivel created on the internet nowadays. Having a $99 dollar fee to put up any app, including free ones, limits the selection to those created by people with the earnestness to create something remotely worthwhile. If anybody could create an app and put it up for free, there would be no way for apple to sort through the shear number of crap programs. It would turn the app store into youtube; a few thousand videos worth watching in a sea of millions of idiots with camera phones.
Maybe people don't realize the pure amount of drivel created on the internet nowadays. Having a $99 dollar fee to put up any app, including free ones, limits the selection to those created by people with the earnestness to create something remotely worthwhile. If anybody could create an app and put it up for free, there would be no way for apple to sort through the shear number of crap programs. It would turn the app store into youtube; a few thousand videos worth watching in a sea of millions of idiots with camera phones.
Nicely said. The fee is definitely important as quality control for the app store.
Having a $99 dollar fee to put up any app, including free ones, limits the selection to those created by people with the earnestness to create something remotely worthwhile.
Agree.
"Maybe people don't realize the pure amount of drivel created on the internet..."
Rest assured that I'm painfully aware of the drivel. But it's important to keep in mind that Apple has a process in place for screening apps (and yes, that process needs some fine tuning).
My opinion is that this process should be what weeds out the useful from the drivel. To me, the $99 fee just weeds out lower income developers, and those willing to create low price or free apps.
Wow...
All of those seem like a complete waste of time...
Jailbreak that damned thing already...
Free homebrew FTW!
To me, the $99 fee just weeds out lower income developers, and those willing to create low price or free apps.
Seems to me like a "developer" would have to be pretty low budget (living in a cardboard box?) to not be able to afford a measily $99.
... with most of the games is like '90 are back... almost the same resolution and 3D graphics... there would be interesting to see such games as NFS 1 & 2, Terminal Velocity, Duke Nukem 3D and stuff like that ported to the iPhone...
Seems to me like a "developer" would have to be pretty low budget (living in a cardboard box?) to not be able to afford a measily $99.
Actually, living in a college dorm, or just being laid off, may be sufficient for $99 to be a lot of cash. I think there's a bit of a double standard at play here.
I know it's not possible because of the licensing, but what would happen if Linus Torvalds suddenly demanded $99 from everyone wanting to develop a Linux application? The entire open source community would be up in arms (and rightfully so, in my opinion).
What about if Bill Gates demanded $99 from every Windows developer? He'd be accused (again, rightfully so) of abusing his position to pilfer $99 from every Windows developer.
But Steve Jobs gets a free ride, no questions asked, like it's some kind of corporate entitlement.
I just checked out Enigmo in the app store and it is listed as $2.99. This article is only 2 days old and claims the app costs $0.99. What gives?
Apparently a change in price. App developers are permitted to put apps on sale, and to change prices.
I just checked out Enigmo in the app store and it is listed as $2.99. This article is only 2 days old and claims the app costs $0.99. What gives?
Oh please. This is an app STORE, and its not like Apple started charging the fee overnight. This has been in effect since day one. I do not develop apps but I agree with the first couple statements about needing the fee to weed out the useless Youtube like environment. If you cannot round up the cash, it's simply not for you. If you are really talented and cannot afford it, I'm sure someone would be willing to invest in you. Comparing Steve Jobs to Linus and Bill in that scenario is not at all accurate.
Actually, living in a college dorm, or just being laid off, may be sufficient for $99 to be a lot of cash. I think there's a bit of a double standard at play here.I know it's not possible because of the licensing, but what would happen if Linus Torvalds suddenly demanded $99 from everyone wanting to develop a Linux application? The entire open source community would be up in arms (and rightfully so, in my opinion). What about if Bill Gates demanded $99 from every Windows developer? He'd be accused (again, rightfully so) of abusing his position to pilfer $99 from every Windows developer. But Steve Jobs gets a free ride, no questions asked, like it's some kind of corporate entitlement.
Sorry, this is what I meant to quote.