Apple apologizes and compensates for MobileMe downtime and their loose definition of “push.”

Gordian worms live inside crickets. Once fully grown, they inject chemicals into the cricket’s brain, brainwashing it and forcing it to kill itself by jumping into water. Once in water, the worm wriggles out of the writhing body and swims off in search of a mate.

Two huge disclaimers:

1. It’s early. iPhone 2.0 and the App Store are just hours old. Everything below is pure conjecture.
2. “A living” is subjective.

Where’s the market?

Pinch Media just released an initial price distribution chart for the initial 500 or so iPhone apps in the App Store.

There are always going to be lots of free apps, but what’s telling is the initial distribution of prices. Most are $10 or less with the bulk at under $5. If that’s where the market settles out, developers who planned on making a living selling iPhone software may be in for market whiplash.

It is certainly possible to make money selling software at $5 or $10 a pop, but you have to do significant volume to make it pay. $20-$49/pop can add up pretty quickly (as many successful shareware authors can attest to), but $5-$10/pop requires real volume.

OmniFocus Outlier

So far OmiFocus is the only app priced higher than $10 in the top 35 downloaded iPhone apps. There are only four other apps in the top 100 that are priced at higher than $9.99.

However, a closer look at OmniFocus shows that the entry price for the desktop app is already $79 so their customers are used to paying higher prices for their software. It will be very interesting to see how many new players without established products will be able to command prices over $9.99. I suspect there may be some seriously vertical apps (like ForeFlight that will command top dollar.

Are iPhone apps just supporting cast members?

It’s way too early to tell, but besides games, might the big winners be the hybridizers? Salesforce.com makes their money selling web-based software — the iPhone app is just a gateway to their core service. OmniFocus will make the bulk of their money on their desktop app. Will iPhone-only developers build profitable companies or will a combination strategy (web, desktop, or both) be required to justify developing for the platform?

Of course an ad supported model is a possibility too. Twitterific, for example, already runs ads from The Deck (or you can pay $10-15 to get rid of the ads).

Another option is the Tap Tap Tap model which is to release a pile of apps for $2.99 each and make the dollars on aggregate volume.

Time will tell

I’m bullish on the iPhone and App Store. I still believe the iTouch platform will ultimately dominate the mobile space for the next 20 years. The next 3 months should set the market for iPhone app prices. I wonder where it will all settle out and where people’s pricing expectations will settle in.

Our friend, and former 37signals-founder, Carlos Segura has redesigned Cartype: “A museum of automobile typography”. Very nice redesign (here’s the old site for comparison).

But it’s really so much more than that. Take his museum of gauge clusters:

Or his obsessive collection of brand emblems:

If you dig cars, you really outta check out the new Cartype.

Last week I was in Seattle for a couple days. A friend suggested I check out the new Olympic Sculpture Park. It was near my hotel so I walked over there to see what was up.

Seattle

Nice landscaping, nice setting, nice sculpture, but the lasting impression wasn’t made by the art, it was made by a sign (actually, about 10 signs):

They even had an extra specific warning in one spot that “Even the lightest touch harms the art… Help the art survive… PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH.”

Public art in a public outdoor space in the middle of public paths and public lawns yet you can’t touch it. The only interaction is visual. It’s standoffish. It feels like a missed opportunity.

Chicago

Contrast this with Chicago’s Millennium Park. Public art and architecture that is entirely interactive.

A fountain that spits on you:

Or a snaking bridge that you can walk or hang out on:

Or reflect in public:

Chicago understands public art in a public space. The public will only be interested if they can engage with it. Walk on it, play it in, look into it, touch it, brush up against it. If you go to Millennium Park you’ll actually see and hear kids playing over the place. I don’t think you’d see a single kid at the Seattle Olympic Sculpture Park having a good time. I didn’t see any adults who were particularly interested either.

Edith Macefield, 1921-2008.

The Ivanhoe Reservoir in LA holds millions of gallons of drinking water. It’s also contaminated with cancer-causing bromate — caused by a reaction between sunlight, chlorine, and naturally occurring bromide.

So what to do? They came up with a really clever solution: Keep sunlight away from the water by covering the water with millions of black balls (called bird balls). Watch a video to see how it went down.

More photos at Curbed.

So far we’ve received about 80 applications to our call to hire a new web designer at 37signals. Thanks to everyone who’s applied. We’re beginning to get in touch with people we think may be a good fit.

Unfortunately it’s not all coming up roses. It’s surprising how many people don’t proofread, spell check, or otherwise pay attention to the basics when applying for a job. It’s a minority, but it’s big enough that I was compelled to write about it.

We’ve received applications from people spelling 37signals as “37 Signals” and Backpack as “Backback” and Basecamp as “Basscamp” or “Base Camp”. We even got one email from someone calling Highrise “Hi Rise”. One said how much they liked “Packcamp”.

Casual communications are one thing, but when you’re applying for a job you have to pay attention. Know how the company spells its name. Know the names of the products. Read what you wrote so you know what you said.

It’s OK to be funny if you get the basics right. It’s OK to be irreverent if you get the basics right. It’s OK to take some liberties with language if you get the basics right. It’s OK (and encouraged) to have personality and be yourself if you get the basics right.

I don’t want to be grumpy here. I just want to be helpful: Check your spelling, read your email, double-check everything. This is a job application, not an IM with a buddy. We appreciate when you take the time to apply, but it’s a waste of your time if you don’t nail the basics.

That said, there have been a handful of absolutely wonderful applications. Some people clearly took the time to put together a special portfolio page (some wisely even used Backpack). Some were bold and clear in their advice. Some were really beautifully written. These are the people who deserve an employer’s full attention. They’ve got ours.