$.99 App "Units Converter" Overtakes Texas Hold'em
For as long as I can remember, Texas Hold'em has been at the #1 spot in the Top Paid Apps list in the iTunes App Store. This evening, I noticed Units Converter, a $.99 utility, has overtaken it. This is interesting for several reasons.
First, I hadn't heard of the app before yesterday, when an update was released. Secondly, it takes the top spot having only a 3.5 star rating. Lastly, there was this review for it by "CydeWeys":
How is a $0.99 app #21 on the free apps page?
This is interesting because this detail makes it sound as if this was miscategorized as a free app. If it were #21 on the free apps list, and now it's top on the paid list, it seems that free apps are extremely more popular than paid apps. That's not exactly a profound realization, more just confirming that people would rather get something free than pay for it.
I wonder how many people bought this when listed as a free app without realizing it was $.99? I don't think the UI warrants the #1 spot, it seems strangely laid out, misaligned text captions. But, it does function, which is a lot more than I can say for other apps.
Anyways, here's to Units Converter's new found stardom!
Update July 31, 2008 10:55 PM
Units Converter is no longer listed in the top paid apps. Texas Hold'em is reigning again. I don't suspect it to be overtaken for a while.
Discuss | Posted on Wednesday, July 30, 2008, in iphone, apple
All Things iPhone (that I can say)
Let me first express my sentiment using language that I try my best to rarely use. This situation warrants it, and it's a apathetic cry by iPhone developers worldwide: F&@#ing NDA.
The NDA in place causes a lot of frustration for me. Projects that I've had fun working on and revelations that I've had while working, all under lock and key because of the NDA. Oh how I would love to tell you about my experiences with #$*&%*&@ and @*#&%*&, but alas I can't. I long for the days in which the NDA will finally be lifted. 2.1? 2.2? Never?
Syncing is another sore issue. Or more specifically, backing up is painful. Yesterday, I attempted to install two new apps that I had downloaded on my computer. I started the sync process at about 2:00pm. An hour and a half later it got interrupted. I started again. An hour later it got interrupted again. I remarked in a reply text message to that individual I was seriously thinking of switching on Airplane mode to just sync!
And here we are today, I've been backing up for the last hour and a half, the progress bar is about 95% done as I continue to write this post. This will be my first successful backup in the past 4 days, if it doesn't get interrupted.
On a positive note, while apps crash and my phone reboots itself probably about once a day, these minimal downtimes are simply minor inconveniences for an otherwise pretty decent experience. Yes, iPhone 2.0 is working pretty decently for me. I've got a lot of software that's great on my phone, more that's just "good", and I think I've eliminated everything that stinks.
Of course the last sore spot is the lack of my software on the phone. As I mentioned in my previous blog post I have a solo app and a team effort awaiting approval. Everything is sitting approved for my personal app for the last two days, but it still hasn't been posted. The other is awaiting approval, so we'll see how that goes.
Another 15 minutes has elapsed, and my progress on backing up has slowed to a further crawl. Will it finish? Will I just give up? Only time will tell, but I'm certainly not enjoying these failed backups.
So, users of iPhone 2.0 or developers for the platform, what say you, are my sentiments roughly aligned with yours?
Discuss | Posted on Wednesday, July 30, 2008, in apple, iphone
The Joys of Independence
Well, it's been a little over two months since I quit my day job in pursuit of a grand plan to start my own business as an indie developer. How has it been going? Overall, not too shabby, although I must say I'm not exactly taking the approach I originally was planning on two months ago.
I'm still not ready to talk about my main project, which has also morphed over the last two months. I still am passionate about the idea, and am working on it as much as possible. However, I've also been throwing some time in developing some iPhone applications, which haven't quite been released yet (c'mon Apple!).
The last two months have been very interesting to say the least. My wife spent two months at Opera in the Ozarks, which for me entailed driving to and from Eureka Springs, Arkansas a total of four times over two months. The car I bought just two months ago now has over 9,000 miles on it. This amount of travel and lack of a decent internet connection while there has certainly taken its toll on my productivity, but now that I've been back for the better part of a week, I'm getting a lot done that I had been putting off.
I've been working on starting a new podcast, for which I have another interview tomorrow. With the aforementioned travels, I still haven't found time to finish editing the first interview -- I'm hoping to do that this weekend. I'll announce the podcast with a little more grandeur here when I put up the first real episode.
Lastly, I'm actually starting to teach piano lessons on evening a week. This has been something I've always wanted to do, as I love teaching, kids especially, and I love music. I hope it goes well.
About the site, if you go to the full page you'll see that I've hooked into Disqus for comments, and it's a service I really enjoy. So, if you want to comment, you can again!
Now the real question: after all this time, do I actually still have any readers?
Discuss | Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008, in iphone, life
