The strange case of Flappy Bird seems to be all over the Internet right now. If you’re unfamiliar with the app, take a moment to educate yourself. Reading comments from its creator, it’s clear that the developer did nothing to promote his app, and obviously had no idea that the wave of success was coming his way. Anyone with a discerning eye that plays the game will also come away confused because quite bluntly, there’s nothing noteworthy here. Instead, what you see is a bizarre case of mob mentality charging through the App Store, and ultimately, I feel sorry for him. However, what concerns me most about this situation is that it highlights all the things that are wrong with the App Store and the most troubling aspects being that these two things have now become the accepted norm:

  1. The App Store is viewed as developer hostile
  2. Success on the App Store is more or less a lottery ticket.
The App Store is Apple's ace-in-the-hole advantage in the Smart Phone platform wars and it should do everything it can to protect that advantage. As a case in point, I recently tried carrying a WindowsPhone for a week (more about that in a different post) and I found the device quite pleasing overall, but ultimately I couldn't get past the lack of essential third party apps. This is Apple's huge advantage, and as a platform, it is in Apple's best interests to treat the App Store as a meritocracy where the best of the best rise to the top. Right now, that isn't happening. I really hope that someone at Apple is paying attention.