I like the way Schiau Studios thinks -- when customers complained about the price of their $2.99US App Store game Alchemize, they raised the price up to $39.99. Over on the TouchArcade forums, they make their case: most devs, they say, when faced with complaints about price, will just lower their price even though their software is already cheap. So they wanted to buck the trend, and instead raised it up to almost $40 (which, incidentally, is slightly more than what you might pay for a handheld console game).

Lest you simply complain that they were greedy, they say they were only out to make a point: everyone who purchased the game at the higher price point will have all of their money go to charity, and now that the game's back at the $2.99 price point, 33% of all the profits to be gained will go to the same charity. Regardless of whether the game's any good or not, we like their thinking.

Can we all agree to stop griping about price points? I've actually heard this come up lately on a comedy podcast of all places -- when Chicago broadcasting legend Steve Dahl (and one of my favorites) started up a podcast about a month ago, and introduced an app to go along with it. Steve was inundated with comments complaining about the $2.99 price, which he responded to with a great argument on the show: he's put a lot of money into the app and the show behind it, and if you're already a fan of his, paying less than the cost of a cup of Starbucks should not even be an issue.

Sure, when the App Store first started up, it was the Wild West -- both prices and quality were all over the place. But at this point, Apple's review system has more or less settled down, and blogs like ours are full of recommendations, with enough free apps to last any rabid app user most of their iPhone time. If you have any interest in an app at all, a couple of bucks shouldn't be enough to give you pause -- either pick it up and make sure the dev gets their due (small as that may be), or move on to find an app you'd rather buy.

Developer Jim Whimpey is riding a bike to cure diabetes, and he's asking for your help (and promising a chance at some great Mac software). For every $10 you donate to his upcoming ride in southern Australia, he'll throw your name in a raffle to win one of two big Mac software bundles, both worth almost $190 each and both including Things, MarsEdit, Tweetie, and Wii Transfer. Any one of those apps is worth the donation, not to mention that your money will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, one of the biggest organizations around committed to fighting type 1 diabetes.

You get a raffle entry for every $10 you donate, so put in $20 and you'll get two entries, and so on. He's asking for all the donations by September 14th, so you've got about two weeks to get over there and put some money in. Great cause and great way to pick up some sweet new apps for your brand new Snow Leopard install to run.

Remember Mac Bundle Box? Back in March, Mac Bundle Box 4 provided an ever-growing list of Mac applications at a bundle price of US$49, with 5% of the purchase price going to Charity:Water.

It's back again, and Mac Bundle Box 5 is now underway with about US$459 worth of software selling for US$49. There are a couple of changes from the last time, though -- this time, the list of applications is different, and now Charity:Water is going to get 10% of the proceeds. According to Christian Owens from Mac Bundle Box, the last bundle raised almost $7,000 for this great charity, which works to bring clean water to people worldwide.

So, what does your $49 buy?

• Freeway Express
  
• Simon
• Jumsoft Keynote Themes 8
  
• DEVONthink
• myNotes
• iCash
• DaisyDisk
• Web2Delight
• Chronicle
• xHub
• Stomp
• Exces

All of the applications listed here have free trial downloads available, so you can give 'em a try before you buy the bundle. As with all bundles, Mac Bundle Box 5 won't last for long, so act soon.

Today's the last day for the Mac Bundle Box deal, and the Bundlers have decided to sweeten the deal if they pass a certain sales goal.

Mac Bundle Box already had one Mac application added since March 1st -- MacPilot -- and the team has offered to throw in one more application for free if they reach their goal. That will make a total of 15 Mac apps for only US$49!

As of 12:43 PM PDT, the team needs to only sell 27 26 bundles to add the last mystery app. Remember, 5% of the proceeds from this deal will benefit Charity:Water, an organization helping to bring clean water to people worldwide. Once 12 midnight rolls around, this deal goes away.

Starting today (March 1, 2009), Mac Bundle Box 4 is offering 13 Mac applications worth US$333.82 for the discounted price of US$49. Like most deals of this type, Mac Bundle Box doesn't last long; you have until March 12th to get in on the action.

So far, the bundled apps include:

• Relationship
• Code Collector
• DrawIt
• Espionage
• Cover Stream
• DEVONnote
• QuickScale
• Project Calculator
• Transcriva
• Magnet
• Involer
• Stuf
• Blog Assist

What do I mean by "so far"? Well, the Mac Bundle Box team wants you help out tomorrow and tweet up #macbundlebox. If that hash code becomes a Twitter trending topic, they'll add more apps to the bundle.

By purchasing Mac Bundle Box 4, you're also doing a good deed as 5% of each purchase is going to Charity:Water, a group that drills water wells for the 1.1 billion people on this planet who don't have clean drinking water.

Good apps, good price, good deed. It sounds like a heck of a good deal.

Puzzllotto has been about as hidden as the lemurs you can see in the screenshot over there, for some reason -- the concept isn't real easy to grasp, and if you just stumbled across the "game" in the App Store, odds are that you'd think you had $5 stolen from you. But there is a weird story hidden here, both literally and figuratively. David Lanham and Mike Lee contributed to the Puzzllotto, which features unusual game play -- there's just a picture of a forest, and a few eyes that you can touch to make lemurs and other creatures pop out. I would tell you more, but I haven't actually figured it out yet -- there's a "fosa" that will scare away any lemurs or butterflies you've summoned, and I know that the butterflies are basically a progress meter, but other than that I have no idea.

But Puzzllotto isn't just that perplexing app -- it's been dubbed "fundware" by Lee, and 10% of the proceeds from the game will go to the Madagascar Fauna Group to support the habitats of lemurs, fosas, and butterflies. And it's actually a puzzle to be solved, with a cash prize -- if you can be the first to figure out the "puzzle" behind Puzzllotto, United Lemur will give you a cash prize out of their prize pool, currently at $5000, and growing every day for 31 days. If no one claims the prize at the end of the 30 days, all the money will go to charity, project over. You can follow updates on their Twitter -- it sounds like no one's claimed any prizes yet, which is no surprise -- if there are any clues in the app, they're very, very hard to find. United Lemur claims that there is a game in there (and that it is worth the $5 entry fee), but so far, all players have found is a few screens of the weird lemur puzzle.

But it is a different kind of game -- a cash prize handed out by a flabbergastingly tough puzzle disguised as an App Store game, all designed to benefit a charity. Lee says on his blog that they wanted to make a game where players couldn't cheat by telling each other the answer, but maybe they didn't realize that part of the fun of Myst is sharing the strategy with other players. And if you don't want to shell out the $5 on Lee's word, it might be fun to just wait until the solution gets posted somewhere anyway. Have you solved any part of Puzzllotto yet?

The Boylston Street Apple Store opening in Boston was entertainment for all, especially Bostonians. The unveiling was almost as much fun as the facade. Among the souvenirs floating around, at least one is worthy of special note, as the sale of it will benefit more than just the lucky buyer.

Rescued from the dumpster and lovingly restored (to the best of the seller's ability, anyway), a chunk of the Apple logo that stood front and center on the "Green Monster" facade is up on eBay. All of the proceeds from the auction will be going to boston2portland, a bike ride to raise money for the cure of Parkinson's disease. You might not need a monolithic, duct-tape-textured, decorative piece of Apple history. But, maybe you'll bid for the benefit of a worthy cause and pass the spoils on to someone with too many bare walls, a love of all things Apple and very fond feelings for Fenway Park.

Check out the auction here.

Out of all of the hype surrounding the imminent launch of the iPhone, this is the first story to warm my cold socialist heart. Johnny Vulkan of NYC ad agency Anomaly is first in line at the Apple Store SoHo, and has special plans for his iPhone. Instead of coveting his precious new toy like the rest of us, his iPhone will go right up on eBay where all proceeds from its sale will go to AIDS charity Keep a Child Alive.

If game console launches like that of the Wii and PS3 are any indication, early iPhone sellers on eBay stand to make a killing, and it's nice to see that some of that money will be going to an organization working to stop a nasty virus from doing the same.

[via BoingBoing]

This isn't exactly a deal, but it is for a good cause. Several independent Mac developers have gotten together and are offering their products for a charity sale on May 2nd to benefit the Virginia Tech Memorial Fund. The products will sell for their normal prices, but the devs "will donate the proceeds of their sales" to the Fund. There are a good number of products being offered from a variety of developers, so if you've been on the fence about one of these applications today would be a good day to grab it.

Buying software from select Mac developers on December 7th, 2006 will do more than just add another icon to your Applications folder. It'll make the holidays a little nicer for sick kids in children's hospitals all over the world by providing them with toys, games and other seasonably charitable goodness.

A group of independent Mac developers are donating all of the proceeds from their sales of select applications on December 7 to Child's Play is a Seattle-based charity started in 2003 by the guys at Penny Arcade, the gaming company folks who make the gaming-oriented webcomic (thanks for the correction, Samuel!). All you need to do is buy the apps, just as you normally would. Your contributions will help make a kid's life a little cheerier, and you'll get some great software in the process.

There are some really great titles, too, so if you were considering treating yourself to some cool software, Dec 7 (tomorrow, for most of us) is the day to do it. Heck, you could even continue the spirit of giving by buying an app or two as a gift for someone else. Software Stocking Stuffers anyone?

The complete list of participating Developers and their participating apps are listed on Ironcoder. Highlights include iRooster, Billable, Freeze Frame, VoodooPad, HoudahSpot, LifeBoat, iDictionary and more!

This is a great effort for a great cause and I applaud the participating developers for their efforts.

Boy, this Nike+ thing just keeps getting cooler and cooler. I just received an email from Nike introducing a new Nike+ Group Goals program through which Nike will donate $1 to a cause for every mile participants run (using the Nike+iPod kit, of course). It appears that causes will rotate periodically, as this month they're featuring three: the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as well as Cubs and White Sox charities.

This is a stellar idea, and call me what you have to, but I'm genuinely inspired to finish this post and lace up my shoes; this is such a great way to get people even more motivated. I'm excited to see what other charities and groups hop on board with one of the most arguably unique and active iPod accessories to date.

Think Secret is reporting that Apple might be working on a deal with Bono to produce some red products to help promote and support the U2 philanthropist's RED, an AIDS awareness charity. The idea is that RED cuts deals to produce exclusively red items from which a portion of the sale is donated to The Global Fund, an org that helps women and children in Africa who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. Keep in mind, however, that nothing has been signed yet, and while I personally think it would be really cool to see something like this happen, I'm skeptical as to whether a red Mac would fly in a store next to predominantly white and black brethren.

But don't call me a hater; I'm as interested to see what happens with this as the next guy, and I think it would be a great gesture on Apple's part for the cause.