So here’s something that’s really interesting. There’s all these smucks that are flocking to the app store, tryin’ to make all these paid apps to become the next rich ****… It’s sorta’ like a gold rush, but mark my word, it’ll end up more like the dot com bubble bust. They all rush to make a cheap, $0.99 or more app, hoping that it’ll be downloaded by most iPhone owners so they’ll get a million or more downloads. At $0.99 let’s say, getting 70%, tha’d be $70,000 for 1,000,000 downloads. But most apps don’t see numbers like those at all. Some will be lucky if they get 100 ($70) downloads. And if you raise your price higher than $0.99, your downloads get killed… It’s best to stay at $0.99.

But here’s the interesting part. Someone creates a great paid program, such as RulerPhone, as of right now, the only program that allows you to measure objects taken with your camera by simply placing a business card in the pic. They enjoy success, and then one or two people make the same type of program. Well, whoever makes the best quality and cheapest program will get all the downloads (the money). The interesting part is how all that can change.

It all can change by someone creating the same type of program… but charge nothing for it. In other words, a free app.

In the PC software world, someone can create a free program and it won’t affect a paid program at all really. There’s a few reasons. One, people don’t know how to find the free program because there’s no single software searching source. If they do discover a free program alongside a paid program (such as from download.com), the user isn’t going to trust the free program as the paid program. Also, the issue of support (are there updates, does this work for other users) and the quality (most freeware PC program are junk and feel like they were designed for Windows 95). So free PC program don’t affect paid PC programs very much.

But iPhone apps are completely different. Free apps are discovered and installed the same way paid apps are. Free apps are safe, updated regularly, stable, usually good quality, ect… so, when an app is released for free, let’s say an app that does what RulerPhone does, why would anyone wanna’ spend money on the paid app?

And there’s the interesting thing… one good quality free app can kill 20 paid apps. People, such as myself, use and fercely promote free apps. That there is hype… awareness; free advertisement. Take a tv guide program app. There are a few paid apps, but there’s one and only app I used and the one I’ve mentioned a few times is the What’s On app. It’s free and does what other paid programs do. So all these app designers selling crappy or awesome paid tv guide apps don’t get discovered at all… why? Because of at least one free program, the What’s On app.

That’s the downfall of paid apps. Nothing wrong with an app charging, if it’s cheap… but once a free app is released that does the same things, that free app is gettin’ all the attention and that paid app ain’t gettin’ ****. After all, I’m going to show my support to the program giving us something and asking nothing in return, verus a program asking for our money. See the problem free apps cause to paid apps?

It’s interesting to watch these app designers who’re tryin’ to make money. My advice… if you want fame, release your app for free. If you want money, consider it nothing more than a hobby and keep your day job.

Peace, J