#comments

The iTunes store just keeps proving that people will pay for downloading digital goods that they could pretty easily get for free. Free even of the DRM encumbrance that Apple yokes all their goods down with. (Another quickie, the move’s going well, mostly unpacked and organized – just need more shelves and what not to finish unpacking.)

Just read this latest Gizmodo poll where they ask how much folks have spent in the App Store. Obviously not a scientific poll, but combined with Apple’s revelation that it’s doing $1 million/day in the first month open, the results seem believable. The interesting thing about this poll is that over half the people who responded have spent something.

This is in the face of very easy jailbreaking of the iPhone, those hackers work overtime to make it easy to do. Beyond that jailbroken apps can do a lot more than their App Store counterparts and the apps themselves are easy to install.

Moreover, given the plethora of free apps people continue to buy apps. Obviously most people spend less than $10 on a few cheap apps, but a very reasonable number spend more than that. I’d guess that many of the people buying these apps, don’t buy other software, but they buy App Store apps because it is just so damn easy to do it. You just click buy, click confirm and pow you’re done. No address, no credit card info, it just happens.

I think it’s quite interesting. If things are cheap, easy and most importantly convenient to buy, people will buy even when there are free and easy (even arguably better) alternatives. What’s your experience been? Have an iPhone or another smartphone? Ever bought any apps or anything for it?