One by one, people are succumbing to iPhone fever. In a pub by the Regent's Canal last night, I saw no less than three iPhones being proudly displayed by their new owners, with their friends coo-ing over its tappy, slidey, magnificence.
"I'm sick of having these things shoved in my face," said a friend of mine. "There's a guy at work who keeps asking me if I want to have a go. Why would I want to have a go on his phone?"
But iPhone owners with more enthusiasm than sense may have fallen foul of something that, until earlier today, was available on Apple's online store: a $999.99 application that does nothing whatsoever.
Created by artist Armin Heinrich, the "I Am Rich" application puts an image of an iridescent red jewel at the centre of your display. As Heinrich says:
"The red icon on your iPhone or iPod touch always reminds you (and others when you show it to them) that you were rich enough to afford this. It's a work of art with no hidden function at all."
Some have criticised the process by which an application such as this can emerge onto an official online store without being vetoed; others have said that, as a work of art, it represents pretty good value. But this latter opinion certainly isn't shared by some poor chap who appears to have unwittingly bought it.This picture comes from the reviews section of the store...
Apple will have netted a neat $300 for this chap's mistake; it'll be interesting to see whether they enforce their "all sales are final" policy and refuse to refund him the cash – especially after having withdrawn the application from their store. The lesson: never click on a "Buy Now" button if you don't have the cash. And particularly if the thing you're buying just consists of a few red pixels on a black background.
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Ha ha ha ha. I approve.
Posted by: Marysia | Sunday, 10 August 2008 at 12:55 PM
I love it, this German guy has certainly sense of humor. And how is it a "scam" and a "fake"? The description said what the application does. It displays a picture. That's all. So the moron goes to the internet store and "jokingly" clicks on "buy" button. Well, they hilariously charged him. I am sure that people at Apple and the author of this program are greatly amused. So am I :)))
Posted by: kris | Sunday, 10 August 2008 at 06:00 PM