“I Am Rich” Thinks Different - And Gets Deleted…
by Ewan Spence
The saga of the “I Am Rich” application in the Application Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch should be ringing alarm bells for developers involved in the platform.
For those not aware of the situation, an application was coded for the iPhone platform that simply displayed a glowing jewel on the screen of the iPhone. The reason for being called “I Am Rich” was the price of the application… some $999.99. All seems fine to me, after all the world of hardware is full of special editions, limited releases, and hardware that is priced way above the regular cost because it is perceived as a status symbol.
“I Am Rich” is certainly that now, as it has been removed from the App Store, and you can no longer buy it. So there are 8 rather exclusive (or should that be infamous) iPhones out there with this app installed, because Apple, apparently after community pressure about a ’stupid app,’ ‘a joke’ and ‘this is worthless,’ have removed the application from sale, with no official reason given to the developer.
Doesn’t this strike anyone as being odd? Actually more than odd, it’s almost Orwellian. To borrow a phrase, has this program been “mis-programmed” and now corrected in the cookie cutter story of the iStore?
By all means have peer reviews of applications, have users submitting their thoughts and star ratings, but to delete an application, and take away the only route it has to market is a dangerous game to start playing (I suspect it will put into question any DMCA protection Apple may want to invoke in the future). Any platform is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain – by taking out any third party distribution except their own, the Handango’s and PalmGear’s of the world aren’t there to serve the needs of the customer, or to provide options (which would help to create a genuine market with competitive pressures).
Far from being a great thing, I feel the Apple iStore is going to be a continuing achilies heel for Apple – acting as a lightning rod for hard luck and horror stories whenever there’s a slow news day. If it breaks, or get things wrong, there’s no recourse. If you’re uninvinted, you’re out the game. Would any developer put them at the mercy of a single point of failure that bows to external pressure when someone ironically ‘Thinks Different?’
The Application has ‘earned the developer some $5,600 after Apple has taken their cut. Payment is due out (as with all developers) at the end of the month.
