'Keeping you Kosher via iPhone'

Welcome to the app. economy.
Good piece in the Grauniad yesterday about the financial winners (anyone?) and losers (largely the developers) of applications or, as they've slipped quickly and seamlessly into popular conversation, apps. Here's one of my favourites:

'Then there was an app called I Am Rich designed by satirical German developer Armin Heinrich. Once downloaded and activated, it displayed a glowing, red "ruby" on the user's iPhone screen – an enduring testament to the owner's lack of taste and their excess of wherewithal. Heinrich wrote in his App Store description: "The red icon on your iPhone or iPod Touch always reminds you (and others when you show it to them) that you were able to afford this . . . It's a work of art with no hidden function at all." Reportedly, eight customers paid $999.99 for I Am Rich, before Apple decided to withdraw it from the store.'

The religious apps are pretty interesting too: iBlessing, which is billed as "keeping you kosher via iPhone" and tells you the correct prayer to recite in Hebrew over a particular dish. The Catholic church has an app called iBreviary, which "allows the believer to pray simply via an intuitive interface", according to a communique from the Vatican's Council for Social Communications. iBreviary, which is free, is updated with prayers each day. There is also an app that keeps its users updated with the pope's recent speeches, so if the pope condemns gay social networking apps such as Grindr, they will probably be the first to know.

The Guardian: The App Economy