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[jtara]

It still took some considerable effort to put together 400 apps. (Even though there are only a handful of apps, which are cloned again and again, with different quotations, different puzzle faces, etc.)

They had to write copy for the store page (and not bad copy), have icons made (though, again, a lot of duplication between the icons), background images, etc.

Some of actually have positive reviews (Gandhi) but I suppose it's more the subject matter more than the quality of the app. Hey, if Gandhi gets you through your day, Gandhi gets your through your day. Do you have a Gandhi quotes app? (And if Christina Aguilara gets you through your day... well, they've got everything covered.)

Yea, it's kind of sad, and if lowers the already low level of standards. But they do apparently meet Apple's standards, even if there are some damn ugly apps there.

I hope the App Store doesn't turn into a free-for-all wasteland like domain names. But I think we are heading there.

But realize that the app store is not your only marketing vehicle. Shouldn't be and can't be. Did you really expect Apple to do it for you?

Will be interesting to see how this develops. Will these apps sink like we expect them to? And will it matter? Will the publisher still make enough to make it worthwhile? Will they continue to flood the store with low-quality, cloned apps?

Apple is in a no-win situation that they created themselves. And the timing of this huge release of crap apps couldn't have been worse for them. It comes right on the cusp of the 1 billionth app sold (did that happen yet?) (AND Apple's earnings release) and if the press picks up on it, they will dig into Apple like a rabid bulldog.

And well they should.

Apple's been touting number of apps sold, number of apps in the store, and we see now how those numbers (at least the second one) are coming about. It should (and probably will) be a huge embarrassment for Apple. This is the company in the computer industry best known for quality - reduced to this?