So…how about a $1000 iPhone App? Is there anything off the top of your head that you can think of you would pay $1000 for that is just software? Any software I mean. I’m not even talking about just an application that costs more than the actual iPhone you want to use it on? I’d have a hard time thinking of one that I couldn’t download a a free alternative for.

Certainly, I have been FORCED to buy corporate software for a franchise I used to own that was rather expensive in its day. Probably spent a good $5-800 just on the corporate garbage software that worked about as well as the opening day of a new Windows OS, but other than that I have never come close to it.

You may not have been big into the iPhone when this happened, I know I wasn’t (I just got one a few months ago), but back in 2008 there was a bogus app released for $999.99 to the iTunes store. It was called I AM Rich and showed nothing other than a picture of a red gem. OWNAGE to anyone that bought it. Apple quickly pulled the app. People thought we’d see more bogus apps like it, but it hasn’t been too bad. Of course the soft porn apps sure are clogging the place up now. Hormonal teenage boys are great targets to scams with half naked women if you weren’t aware of this .

So…what is this whole BarMax thing? Is it another bogus app with a huge price tag? No, no it is not. Nope…it isn’t a virtual bar with drink mix recipes. IT is in fact the other thing you probably think of when someone says “The Bar”. An application that is designed to help lawstudents study for their Bar Exams. Probably pretty useful for someone crazy enough to be trying to study for this while in their baby jogger city duds and taking care of a baby.

The reason the price is justified is because the company that is synonymous with this type of test prep, BarBri, typically offers it for $3,000 to $4,000. BarMax CA believes it can get away with the lower price because it’s just an app, there is no in-class element. Also, there has been some questions about BarBri’s pricing structure and anti-competitive behavior, which has been the subject of multiple class action lawsuits (hardly surprising when you’re selling these packages to future lawyers).

BarBri also offers an iPhone application, and it’s free, but you need to enroll in their program to access it otherwise it’s useless.

So what do you get for your $1,000 BarMax CA app? A lot, actually. The app is over 1 gigabyte in size, which is the largest application I’ve ever seen. It includes thousands of pages of materials as well as hundreds of hours of audio lectures. It’s all the information you could ever want for the two-month course. And again, it can be done all on your iPhone. That said, if you do want some more tangible paperwork for certain sections, BarMax will send you that electronically as well.

A little more than a week after the release of Apple’s iPhone 3G, an unofficial development team has announced the release of software that “jailbreaks” the new device, allowing unauthorized third-party applications to be loaded. more

Gary is an apple fanboy so I just figured I’d throw that in there for fun. This isn’t really something to cry about…lol

As of the end of December, Apple has stated that they have sold 3.7 Million iPhones, and over 4 Million by mid-January. The only problem is that AT&T has only activated approximately 2 Million of those phones. Half of the total sold!

So a few places have been throwing theories out there as to where all the iPhones have gone. Have they just been unlocked at a massive rate and spread around the globe by many a travelpro? Did they just miss the last quarter and not register yet? It was Christmas after all. Many of the phones could have been purchased before the end of the year, but not activated until January.

Another theory is this one from CNET:

Apparently, they’re on a shelf somewhere. “Excluding Apple’s own stores, there are about 4,400 total iPhone distribution points worldwide, suggesting each had more than 150 units of channel inventory at the beginning of this year. We believe channel inventory likely built even more in the first few weeks of 2008, given Apple continued to ship iPhones at a high run rate,” Sacconaghi wrote.

Fears that Americans aren’t as pumped about the iPhone as they once were? Possibly. Maybe people are just getting sick of being BETA TESTERS for every new piece of technology that gets released now. I know I am. Every major product that I have wanted in the past few years from the tech standpoint has been crap upon its initial release. Video Game consoles, cell phones, and other portable media products. Not to mention the long history of the computer operating systems that are always in Beta.

I don’t care where you look now, but everything on the internet is in Beta. Products are released as if they were still in Beta because many people end up having to ship them back for replacements after they have purchased them due to the original product not functioning properly. Why am I rambling about this? Well..I used to be one of those guys that bought everything I wanted the day it came out. I learned my lesson several…dozen times. Now I just don;t bother trying to be on the cutting edge. Screw it. When your product actually works correctly then I will buy it.