It is never a good idea to pay developers to support a platform [1]. I struggle to find a single proof point of a successful platform where early dev adoption was kickstarted by the provider paying for apps.
All that paying for apps does is get uncommitted developers doing second-rate work. It sets the expectation that payments will continue as well.
I was bullish about ADN until I read this news. Now I fear it is doomed...
They're not writing them checks before they start on something, like MS would in the article you wrote. You built something, you can sell it, and if lots of people use it you get a bonus. It's closer to the App Store's commission on sales than buying a developer's time to build an app.
If payment is based on the ratings user give to the applications, wouldn't the "second rate" applications not make any income? Also, it's opt-in - nobody says a developer has to participate.
All that paying for apps does is get uncommitted developers doing second-rate work. It sets the expectation that payments will continue as well.
I was bullish about ADN until I read this news. Now I fear it is doomed...
[1] http://ceklog.kindel.com/2012/09/26/paying-developers-is-a-b...