It's not quite so black-and-white. I think the main point is here:
Hard to find paid apps (We suspect Google would rather just have everything be free since they default most views in the catalog to free apps, or top downloaded apps which means free apps. The option to show paid apps is buried in a submenu.)
How many users do you think ever saw that sub-menu, much less clicked on it? Yes, Google would rather have apps be free. So would Apple. Why? Because smart companies try to commoditize their products' complements [1].
This really really sucks for people whose business model is "make money selling an Android app", but personally, I think that's a really crappy model to begin with, be it on Android, on the iPhone, or on desktops. Just make your app free and find another way to make money.
Hard to find paid apps (We suspect Google would rather just have everything be free since they default most views in the catalog to free apps, or top downloaded apps which means free apps. The option to show paid apps is buried in a submenu.)
How many users do you think ever saw that sub-menu, much less clicked on it? Yes, Google would rather have apps be free. So would Apple. Why? Because smart companies try to commoditize their products' complements [1].
This really really sucks for people whose business model is "make money selling an Android app", but personally, I think that's a really crappy model to begin with, be it on Android, on the iPhone, or on desktops. Just make your app free and find another way to make money.
1. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html