The App Store Effect

Thought-provoking piece by Paul Kafasis on the App Store, comparing it, more or less, to Wal-Mart. (Paul makes reference to the aforelinked story regarding Snapper lawnmowers.) The important thing to remember is that most arguments, including this one, are not about black and white. They’re about shades of gray. It’s not that the App Store “sucks”, it’s that there’s something not quite right about the way it’s currently set up.

There are plenty of counter-examples showing that high-quality iPhone apps, which are priced accordingly, can thrive in the App Store. The Omni Group’s Ken Case announced last month that they’d sold 40,000 copies of OmniFocus for iPhone, a $20 app. And, in the same “productivity” category, Things for iPhone ($10) is, at this writing, #3 in the App Store bestseller list. But perhaps they’re thriving despite the App Store’s current setup, not because of it — in the same way that there are exceptions where high-quality, accordingly-priced items sell well in Wal-Mart stores, like, say, the iPhone itself.

★ Monday, 29 December 2008