My opinion on the iPhone App Store
December 12th, 2008 Posted in RantsRecently there has been a lot of debate on the various flaws of the Apple app store. Apparently people are pouring their heart and souls into their applications and then disappointed in the sales. A lot of this stems from the practice of selling “ringtone apps”, or in layman’s terms “cheap apps.” The argument is “why will someone buy my $4.99 app when David Leblond over there in North Carolina releases the same thing at $0.99?” Ok, so no one has complained about me specifically, but since all my apps currently cost $0.99, they might as well be.
The reason I have priced my apps at $0.99 isn’t because I’m trying to undercut the price of the competition (and in fact I’m not sure I even have competition for my apps, I haven’t really checked.) The reason I price them that way, is that is what they are worth. They do one thing, and I hope they do it well, but really if you want to time how long your baby is taking a nap for, you aren’t going to want to pay $10 for that luxury.
Of course, I can afford to do this because writing these apps is not my full time job. And it is only me writing the apps. Some app developers choose to start their own companies, hire out developers and artists and lawyers and get office space. That is all nice and good, but it drives up the cost of the app and if the utility of the app doesn’t match then guess what? You aren’t going to be able to sell enough to pay for the developers, the artists, the lawyers, or the office space. That is life. That is how all companies work except for banks. If you are a bank and you screw up, you can beg the government for money and they will pay you in the billions. Car companies? Yeah, you can try but apparently someone in the government has a brain after all.
I’m not telling anyone how to run their businesses, if you want to start your own business selling iPhone apps go right ahead. Just remember, if your apps don’t sell and you lose the shirt off your back, please don’t blame Apple and don’t blame other application developers. Your company, your risk, so please stop complaining.
6 Responses to “My opinion on the iPhone App Store”
By Erin on Dec 15, 2008
Makes sense! Did you have any trouble with the screening process? I hadn’t seen people complaining about competition (although I don’t have an iPhone so maybe that’s why) but I read an article a while back about how a lot of people were disappointed when their apps got denied by Apple in the first place.
By David Leblond on Dec 15, 2008
I haven’t had any trouble with screening just yet, although one of the version updates to an app of mine was rejected because they found a bug in it. Kind of surprised me, I didn’t know they tested that thoroughly.
By Martha on Dec 22, 2008
Seems kind of like common sense, doesn’t it? When did we become such an entitled bunch of whiney people on this planet?
By David Leblond on Dec 22, 2008
It IS kinda funny to see “iFart” and “Pull My Finger” beating the pants off of Spore Origins even though Spore probably had bucketloads of money shoveled into it.
By LvG on Dec 30, 2008
David, that was so well put, I think you should be in charge of the government, the banks and the north pole.
By Frank on Jan 23, 2009
You should be in charge of the government and the banks, but NOT the North Pole. That is for me alone to rule. LvG has a tatoo of Gir on her loin and should not be in charge of anything.