Is the Apple AppStore Really Only About Fart Applications?
Posted on 07 August 2009, at 7:04 am, by Christopher Gavula
It seems a lot of different bloggers have made running commentary about the fact that the iTunes App Store has nothing but Fart and Burp Applications on it. That Apple’s boasts about the number of available applications is meaningless, because so many of them are useless apps. Is it really true?
For a while, it seemed that the top 10 applications download lists showed a lot of these types of applications, but then, for less than a buck (or free), that didn’t seem like a big surprise. But how does it really break down?
Well, today there are more than 65,000 available applications in the store. Of those, about 475 of them have “Fart” in the title or description. 115 have “Burp” in the title or description. Even if you assume NO overlap, this is still only 590 applications out of more than 65,000 – or just under 1% of the applications. Not exactly an overwhelming segment of the market, is it?  Also, taking a look at the top 25 paid and free applications today – there weren’t any fart or burp applications at all.   A few less-than-useful apps, to be sure, but no fart or burp apps. The “fad” has passed.
The notion that the App Store is nothing but useless applications really gives no credit to some of the amazingly useful applications that have been written. It gives no credit to the games apps that, even Nintendo admits, are putting a dent in their market. The App Store has made it easier to buy and install applications for your mobile device than any system before it. And with that comes higher visibility as well. Despite problems like the inconsistent review process, the App Store has made a huge impact on the mobile application marketplace. And it keeps on growing.
Don’t get me wrong – no one needs 600 applications that make rude noises, but I’d hardly say the app store was “nothing but Fart Applications” either. But that doesn’t make for very interesting headlines, does it?
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Barry Simon Kaizer Says:
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August 7th, 2009 at 4:34 pmRT @JoeMeier888 Is the Apple AppStore Really Only About Fart Applications? | Gear … http://bit.ly/BAVPn #Appstore
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August 7th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I have heard that and I don’t agree with it either. It’s kind of like the assumption I used to hold about apps for Pocket PC back in the day. Some of the apps I have read reviews on have seemed kind of pointless to me. However someone must be buying them as they continue to produce apps that are pointless to me. Just because a app is pointless to me or you doesn’t mean it’s pointless.
For example, most people would not need or want to log how long they sleep. I do want to do this and I have found a app on the Android store that does this. That app may be pointless to most people, but I find that it will generate data that is valuable to me.
August 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
As a Palm Pre fan with a bias (though I do own 2 ipod touch’s) I have to say, that there comes a point where there are “too many” apps. If I were an independent developer, I can’t imagine how a new app out of 65,000 would ever get noticed.
Yet some of the most useful apps that are needed are not ‘allowed’ to exist thanks to apple.
If Palm can get 1,000 apps by this time next year, but with virtually no restrictions, I honestly think that is competitive against 65,000 apps. Putting aside the fart and burb crowd, there are still like 20 different twitter clients. Just too much dilution of effort and am not sure if there is enough profit for 95% of the developers to make a living at this.