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Reason #437 Why I Love webOS

By: , 4/21/2010 10:05 pm | 10 comments

So…there is an app out there called “I am rich”.

It sells for $99.

And what does it do for $99? A big red gem glows…that’s it. You spent $99 on a useless app. Congratulations.

Now why would a useless app be a reason to love webOS? Simple. An app of exactly the same usefulness was released in the early days of the iPhone (for $1,000). A few poor schlubs bought it and whined about it….got a lot of press. Eventually Apple pulled the app.

On webOS…this is perfectly legit. You won’t see Palm taking it down. If someone buys it on accident…sorry, should have read the price tag…not Palm’s problem.

I love that.

Palm has struck the perfect balance of control and freedom with its distribution methods. With Apple, it is their way or go home. Android is so ridiculously open that you actually have to be careful not to buy apps that will mess up your phone or worse.

Palm has the Web distribution channel. They let just about anything go there (the freedom part), but there is still a bit of control. There are no “outside markets” of Palm apps. Sure you can buy apps straight from a dev, but it still goes through Palm. If something nefarious tries to get out to the public, Palm maintains just enough control to be able to put the kibosh on it quickly.

It is a fine line to walk, but Palm does it like a Russian on the high wire. Awesome.

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About David Baxter

David is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of webOSroundup. When not toiling away at WOR he is usually with his family, at church, building a website of some kind or another, or playing a video game. @davidbbaxter
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  • http://rmxdave.com David Strack

    Actually, Palm probably *could* remove the app. There is a clause in the dev TOS that the app has to provide “usefulness” to the end user, or something like that. I don't think they would remove it, but if they did I think it could be because of that.

  • http://www.webosroundup.com/ David

    Even on the web distribution channel?

  • http://rmxdave.com David Strack

    Oh no, not there as far as I know. I mean I'm sure legally Palm could remove anything they want, but I think that part of the TOS only applies to the official catalog. My bad!

  • Big Wizz

    Right now, Palm is looking for numbers in their App Catalog, pure and simple. I hate to say it, but I think they'd approve damn near anything right now, just for the +1. It kills me when I see 9000 apps added to Android in March alone.

  • http://www.webosroundup.com/ David

    As I have said before…numbers aren't everything…especially when you have companies like Brighthouse Labs out there clogging up all the lanes. If there are apps you feel you are missing, let us know.

  • Big Wizz

    Oh, don't get me wrong. I totally agree with quality over quantity. But even if you discount 50% of apps from the Android Catalog (which is being generous), they still doubled, in one month, what Palm has to offer totally. Now, Preware goes a long way in helping out in this, but should you (as an average user) have to install “homebrew” to get different settings/apps that should be available without tweaking? I don't think so.

    There are plenty of apps missing from WebOS: Shazam, DocstoGo, GoogleGoggles (or whatever its called), ringtone maker, etc.

    Also, the Brighthouse Labs example isn't the best, they've added to the webOS app catalog ;)

    Palm just needs to come out with new hardware and webOS 2.0 before the end of the year. They are already facing an uphill battle with iPhone 4.0, WM7, and EVO this year…

  • Big Wizz

    Right now, Palm is looking for numbers in their App Catalog, pure and simple. I hate to say it, but I think they'd approve damn near anything right now, just for the +1. It kills me when I see 9000 apps added to Android in March alone.

  • http://www.webosroundup.com/ David

    As I have said before…numbers aren't everything…especially when you have companies like Brighthouse Labs out there clogging up all the lanes. If there are apps you feel you are missing, let us know.

  • Big Wizz

    Oh, don't get me wrong. I totally agree with quality over quantity. But even if you discount 50% of apps from the Android Catalog (which is being generous), they still doubled, in one month, what Palm has to offer totally. Now, Preware goes a long way in helping out in this, but should you (as an average user) have to install “homebrew” to get different settings/apps that should be available without tweaking? I don't think so.

    There are plenty of apps missing from WebOS: Shazam, DocstoGo, GoogleGoggles (or whatever its called), ringtone maker, etc.

    Also, the Brighthouse Labs example isn't the best, they've added to the webOS app catalog ;)

    Palm just needs to come out with new hardware and webOS 2.0 before the end of the year. They are already facing an uphill battle with iPhone 4.0, WM7, and EVO this year…

  • Pingback: I Am Rich app - PreCentral Forums