A SHORT HISTORY OF PAYING FOR NOTHING
“I Am Rich” cost $999.99 and did nothing. This starts at $1.
In August 2008, a month after the App Store opened, a developer named Armin Heinrich released an iPhone app called I Am Rich. It cost $999.99, the highest price Apple allowed. When you opened it, it showed a glowing red gem. That was all it did.
Eight people bought it before Apple took it down the next day. At least one said it was an accident. The others, presumably, got what they paid for: an icon that proved they could afford the icon.
Why it is still famous
It was honest. The description said, more or less, that the app was a work of art with no function and that owning it showed you were able to afford it. Plenty of things are sold on that basis. Very few say so on the label.
It also had a flaw as a way to show off: nobody could see it unless you handed them your phone.
The same idea, with an audience
A leaderboard fixes that. PaidOneDollar.com is a public list of people who paid, sorted by how much. Your row has your title and a link to wherever you like, and everyone who visits the page reads it from the top down.
What they can’t read is the amount. Each figure is hidden from anyone who paid less. So the people below you know only that you paid more than they did, which is the most flattering version of any number.
I Am Rich versus a spot on the board
- 01
Price.
The app: $999.99, fixed. The board: from $1, and after that it’s up to you.
- 02
What you get.
The app: a red gem. The board: a ranked row with a title and a link.
- 03
Who sees it.
The app: you. The board: everyone who visits.
- 04
Still available?
The app was removed after one day. The board is open.
Questions
- What did the I Am Rich app do?
- It displayed a glowing red gem on the screen. It had no other function.
- How many people bought I Am Rich?
- Eight, at $999.99 each, before Apple removed it from the App Store a day after release.
- Is there an app or site like I Am Rich today?
- PaidOneDollar.com works on the same instinct with a lower entry price: pay at least $1 for a spot on a public leaderboard ranked by how much each person paid.