Is the Apple App Store a Casino?

An anonymous reader writes "Fast Company takes a look at the Apple App Store and concludes that it's a casino where most developers are making tragic losses and a tiny few are striking it filthy rich. The article discusses a new book exposing the App Store millionaires, called 'Appillionaires,' which compares the psychological effects of a hit app on a programmer to a gambler's high. One millionaire programmer explains the intense feeling of being in the top-ten: 'The App Store had established some kind of intravenous connection to my body and was pumping me full of Apple-branded heroin.' But, the piece warns, the majority of developers fail to make any return on their app."

Re:...Android Market

[codepunk]

99 bucks is a small price to pay to play in a market that actually produces revenue, unlike the android market.

Re:Welcome to real world

[coinreturn]

Perhaps that is true if your app is a flaming piece of shit. My apps continue to have sales after nine months despite never breaking into the top 200 in Games/Word subcategory. $99 is a pittance considering that the development software is FREE. Extra fees to move the money out? Ridiculous. I get my straight 70% auto-deposited every quarter.