The Trucker Hats of iPhone Apps

A classical piano player in Christchurch, New Zealand decided to see how quickly he could make an app for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone. Reuben Bijl, 22 years old, took 30 minutes and came up with a pointless one called “Sound Grenade.”

It then made him more than $100,000 in a few months, he says, through advertising on the free version and a $1.99 pro version. It emits a harsh squeal that irritates anyone within earshot, even in a crowded restaurant (I tried this–evil looks abounded).

These apps appeal to everybody, Mr. Bijl says. His frustration that “Sound Grenade” has flourished, compared to the tepid response to some of his more useful apps, is palpable.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Must-Reads from other Websites

Panos Mourdoukoutas

Why Apple Should Buy China’s Xiaomi

Paul Graham

What I Didn’t Say

Benjamin Bratton

We Need to Talk About TED

Mat Honan

I, Glasshole: My Year With Google Glass

Chris Ware

All Together Now

Corey S. Powell and Laurie Gwen Shapiro

The Sculpture on the Moon

About Voices

Along with original content and posts from across the Dow Jones network, this section of AllThingsD includes Must-Reads From Other Websites — pieces we’ve read, discussions we’ve followed, stuff we like. Six posts from external sites are included here each weekday, but we only run the headlines. We link to the original sites for the rest. These posts are explicitly labeled, so it’s clear that the content comes from other websites, and for clarity’s sake, all outside posts run against a pink background.

We also solicit original full-length posts and accept some unsolicited submissions.

Read more »