Two of "I Am Rich" app buyers get a full refund

The second news about iPhone that I missed to post on last Sunday is the useless app: "I Am Rich", which has made its maker; Armin Heinrich, a very famous (and rich) person in a very short period of time.

When eight App Store consumers bought the "screen saver" app for $999.99 price tag, Heinrich earned $5,600 for his 70% share from the sales. Afterwards, Heinrich was bombarded with e-mail and phone messages, “many of them insulting,” he said.

When he was asked by Eric A. Taub from the New York Times, Heinrich said it was written as a joke: “I found that some users complain about prices for iPhone applications above 99 cents. I regard it as art. I did not expect many people to buy it and did not expect all the fuss about it.”

But I'm sure not every of those eight "rich" people who've bought Henrich's app think of it as humorously entertaining app, one in particular is the man who wrote an angry review filled with sharp words towards the German software developer & Apple.

When the widely popular note on the net reached Apple's ears, I guess it also turns Steve Jobs' ears into red colored, and then the next thing we know the red ruby pictured app is now can't be found at App Store no more. An Apple spokesperson said the company removed the "I Am Rich" app from its store after a "judgement call" inside the company.

But here comes the best part of the end of the story, according to the New York Times article:
--- But then Apple notified Mr. Heinrich that two of the sales were reversed. Some people apparently bought it by mistake, with at least one saying he hit the “one click” button, not expecting the sale to go through.
Apple declined to comment. But in the past it has said an application cannot be sold until Apple approves it. ---

Yup, only two "accidental" buyers who get a full refund. That means Apple is to keep its $1,800 from the rest of 30% share with Heinrich. Sounds sweet for Apple, and good enough for Heinrich, but how about for the other App Store buyers?



[blogged with my Treo 750v]