"I Am Rich" application finally pulled, developer vows to create jailbroken version

I've avoided reporting on the "I Am Rich" application, despite the amount of column inches it has generated, because in my opinion it was a ridiculous application which should never have made it into the App Store.

In case you've been lucky enough to avoid the news so far, an application called "I Am Rich" -- which sold for $999.99 and did nothing but display a ruby on the screen, plus a misspelled, punctuation-poor mantra -- made it past Apple's censors into the store. Eight people bought it, some claiming to have done so accidentally, and over the weekend, Apple pulled it from the App Store.

German software developer, Armin Heinrich, said it was all meant to be a joke, but he has since received some rather abusive emails and phone messages because of the application.

Though the application itself is ludicrous, it does raise some interesting issues surrounding iPhone applications.

Firstly, there's no way to test drive applications before purchasing them. Of course, that's not a problem with free apps - if you don't like them, simply delete them -- but it can be a pain when you are expected to pay for an app that may not do exactly what you expected it to.

Secondly, it can be almost too easy to purchase applications from the store. From a marketing point of view, it's very slick, but users need to exercise some caution before tapping on that "install" button, because the money can be gone from your credit card with only a password to get in the way.

Thirdly, it raises some issues around exactly how stringent Apple's tests are. Reading around, a number of developers have their own theories, including the possibility that Apple is keener to get the first version of applications into the store to begin with, and is slower to update existing apps, therefore the screening process may not be particularly thorough. Perhaps Apple is a little understaffed at present?

Fourthly, it also raises some concerns over remote killing of applications which are removed from the App Store. Will Apple delete "I Am Rich" from the handful of iPhones whose users bought it? Or will they be able to keep that wonderful red ruby for all eternity? No updates, that's for sure.

As a side issue, the developer seems keen to release a version of his application for jailbroken iPhones, though it's hard to see who'd pay for such an application, and how it would be distributed.

Finally, here's a video of the "I Am Rich" application, just so you can see what you haven't been missing.

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