App Store reaches 20,000 apps

So.. You see what they did there, didn't you? They created a demand for native apps by not allowing them originally and then making it stupid easy to develop for and obtain the software when they did allow it. I guess it isn't really any big secret that they do this, but I just thought I'd point it out. They did the same thing with 3G. The same will happen when/if they allow MMS, Flash, copy/paste or any of those other features everyone wants; They'll act like they invented it and everyone will rush out to buy a new one because they think they have to have it. Hopefully, I'll be in line before you. lol.

Is the ratio of good apps to bad apps as worse than any other mobile platform? It's almost like people are implying that if you went through all the Palm or WinMo apps that were available, there weren't any fart apps or travel guide apps. Does the Apple Mobile platform alone only have a huge amount of crappy apps or lite versions? 20,000 or so apps should still be relatively impressive for such a short amount of time since the SDK was available.

So impressive that RIM, Google and Microsoft suddenly want a piece of the pie with their own versions of App Store.

I think a much easier way of searching is needed for applications that users are searching for. That will assist in making a variety of programs grow more popular, at a faster rate.

once again proving that quantity doesn't equal quality...

Seriously 10k , 20k in apps but how many of them are even useful? Not to be a negative nancy but there may be perhaps 30 decent apps / games out of the whole list (and i'm being generous) . The iTunes app's store needs to be cleaned. There doesn't need to be 20 flatulence sound apps, 10-15 flashlights or any of the vast amount of duplicated crud >:(

some "apps" are just ridiculous.
Farting apps... travel guide apps... language translation apps... ebooks.... for every Jane Eyre novel there seems to be 10 apps, each proclaiming something like like "We allow inverting colours!" or "We do auto-scrolling!"
Since iShoot shot to fame because it didn't get traction until it released a Lite version and then rocketed to #1, every other game developer has released Lite versions too. So that just about doubles the games there.... which is already the largest segment of the App Store.
So, all in all, I reckon only about 20-30% of that figure relates to actual unique apps that offer value for money. Quite astonishing really.

Great follow up to your "31 fart apps in 90 seconds" posting.

It would be GREAT if out of those 20,000 apps 80% we're not useless piece of crap, and other 20% good apps.

Also - it'd be great if the developers would use http://iBetaTest.com more to test their apps, and not publish ones that crash all the time, so we have to wait for months for updates and fixes before we can finally use what we paid for.

iBetaTest.com - a must!

Not to mention apps that come in 20 different versions, such as travel guides, and the like.

What about removing all the free 'lite' versions ... I'd guess maybe 10% have lite versions.