Why Apple was correct in pulling "I am Rich"

If you do not know what "I am Rich" is, just Google it.

There are a lot of people talking about how Apple was wrong to pull the application. I have seen a few, all stupid, arguments for not pulling the application, such as . . .

It's art. Huh?

Buyer beware. Whatevs!?

Dumb arguments.

Apple was correct in pulling it.

It is a stupid application. At a stupid price. And, it isn't even funny as a joke. It doesn't even do anything. Make it rotate or sparkle or anything! Apple should continue to pull these dumb-ass applications. In fact, Apple should pull all applications that are just plain bad.

Why? If Apple is going to act as the gatekeeper for iPhone applications (whether I like it or not), then Apple has an implied duty to remove these types of applications. This is key: Apple is the gatekeeper for ALL iPhone apps.

It is all about trust. I think of it as sort of how we all trust Google to return fair search results. Google works hard to remove crap links and sites that try to "game" the system. We trust them.

We need to trust Apple. A developer needs to know that Apple won't allow these dumb-ass applications through. It just dilutes the space, and ruins it for legit developers. A buyer needs to know that they are not going to get jacked.

Editorial: A few statements on what I think about the App Store.

I do not agree with Apple's decision to require all iPhone applications to be distributed via the App Store.

No trial period for applications sucks. How do you get a refund? Apple has unilateral power "approve" it or "reject" it? Huh? So, I have this awesome idea. I work on it for months, and Apple can just reject it? That's really encouraging me to start working on my iPhone application.

The worst part is that the App Store is full of junk. If Apple is going to act as gatekeeper, then they need to do a better job. Some of the apps are not even iPhone applications. A whole bunch of the applications are just SSB's, which you could do already.

If the iPhone applications does not leverage the SDK, then it is NOT an iPhone app.

An iPhone app, in order to be an iPhone application, must use the phone's hardware, or integrate with a native service or application. Otherwise, it is just crap and useless as an iPhone app. You wouldn't call Gmail in Safari a Leopard application?

So, either be The Gatekeeper or don't.

If Apple is going to be gatekeeper, then do a better job of it. Don't let these dumb apps through. Make sure the apps are legit iPhone applications. Trial periods. Refunds. All the stuff that makes any customer experience good.

Or, don't be the gatekeeper. Let the developers deal with it. That's how it is now with Mac applications. What's the diff?