I Am Rich: the $999.99 iPhone app that did nothing

Source Domain: boingboing.net

In August 2008, German developer Armin Heinrich released I Am Rich on the App Store for $999.99 — the maximum price Apple allowed. The app displayed a glowing red gem. Press the gem and it showed a mantra: “I am rich / I deserv [sic] it / I am good, healthy & successful.” That was it. Heinrich described it as “a work of art with no hidden function at all.”

Apple pulled it in 24 hours. By then, eight people had bought it — six in the U.S., two in Europe — netting Heinrich $5,600 and Apple $2,400. At least one buyer claimed they’d purchased it accidentally.

Heinrich told the Los Angeles Times that Apple refunded two purchasers and that he “was happy to not have dissatisfied customers.” He also told the New York Times: “I regard it as art. I did not expect many people to buy it and did not expect all the fuss about it.” Vox writer Zachary Crockett later called it “the ultimate Veblen good in app form.”

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