Free Apps
Whoever said that nothing in life is truly free may have
been acquainted with the Apple App Store.
Dozens of games there advertise that they don’t cost a cent, but the
developers get you in other ways, including in-app purchases. This business
model may be a boon to the small companies churning out these apps, but they
also help develop some bad habits among those playing the games.
Of the 300 million-plus people using iOS 6 in one form or
another — and millions more using iOS 5 — I get the feeling I’m a dying breed.
Why? I generally dislike and distrust free apps. I can blame
some of this on the overwhelming influence of games, kids, and the psychology
of the masses. Kids, I get. They don’t have a lot of money, sometimes they are
only allowed to download and try free games and apps, and sometimes they have
no budget at all. As for games, the most profitable model — from what I can
tell — comes very close to the same strategies employed by drug dealers and
mass retail stores: Suck your customer in with freebies and super special
deals, build habits and addiction, then bleed them dry for things they truly
don’t need.
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