Rubbing an iPhone on your face won't cure acne - FTC The Federal Trade Commission has fined two developers who claimed their mobile apps could cure acne with flashing colour, but there's still plenty of snake-oil on sale. Colour therapy for acne does have medical credentials, but the FTC's ruling is clear that the frequencies generated by a smartphone screen aren't even close to …
one of the problems with Android is getting people to buy stuff. The purchasing experience just isn't as easy on android, especially as a lot of apple users have iTunes accounts that they can buy from in a single click. Also Android is often seen as the cheap option, for those who can't afford an iPhone. If you're too tight/poor/clever to buy an iPhone then you probably don't have as much cash to spend on apps.
So rather than "ha ha, look how stupid iPhone users are" this seems to be more a case of "Android users don't like to buy apps"....
"but while it would be great to attribute that to the gullibility of Apple users"
Well, they do seem to beleive everything that the church of jobs tells them...
Now that I have got that out of my system, odd that Android is often seen as the cheap option, the 32GB iFad is cheaper that the 32GB Galaxey Tab (well on the 'local' on-line sites anyway).
So, if I can afford an iPhone but am clever enough to buy Android, that means I have *less* money to spend? Really? Surely if I can afford an iPhone but buy something cheaper instead, then I have more money to spend. Even if I'm shopping within my budget, I'm still just as liquid as the iPhone user who can just about afford one - if not more so, as many Android apps are cheaper. Your entire assertion is thus based on the presumption that iPhone owners earn considerably more than Android owners. I can disabuse you of this notion by spending an hour on a city bus route.
Also, I can buy apps from the market with a single click, using an account that works in just the same way as an iTunes account. (And Apple move the litigation drive to sue factor 7.)
>>if I can afford an iPhone but am clever enough to buy Android, that means I have *less* money to spend<<
No, that's not what I said. I said that android was a cheaper option than iphone, which it is (the boy's san Francisco was a hundred quid) and that people with less money to spend on phones have less money to spend on apps.
Fanboi logic not like earth logic indeed....
How easier can it gets?
1) Choose the app. Ok, here we may complain about the search method, but isn´t terrible too. Just a matter of choosing what You want.
2) Click on "buy" or "download".
3) If it is a free app, it´s over. Your mobile does the download for You, and install the app too.
4) If it´s NOT a free app... well, you have to type your credit card info. If I remember correctly, just for the first time. After that your info is remembered.
I don´t know how easier (or harder) is with the Apple Store - but to say is hard to buy on the droid market...
downloading a free app isn't purchasing, so that's not really relevant. Typing in your credit card details, as opposed to not typing them in, is more effort. But yeah, the android purchase experience isn't hideous (if you like giving your credit card details out), but it's not the iTunes integrated experience. If I'm an apple fan and I have iTunes set up on my mac and my iPhone shares that account (which is probably the case for many iPhone users) then the experience on iPhone is better.
"The purchasing experience just isn't as easy on android"
I've never bought an app on on iPhone, but I find it hard to believe that it's easier than on my Android. The hardest part of buying an Android app is having to type in my credit card number (which is actually quite easy), and I only have to do that much because I don't trust Google with my real credit card (I wouldn't trust Apple with it either) and the prepaid cards I use for 90% of my online purchases are non-reloadable. Other than that it's the same click and confirm as any other online store. I can't imagine Apple decided to eliminate the confirm step, though it would explain why the iPhone seems to sell so many more apps than Android.
Really though I think it comes down to the average iPhone user being more easily parted with his money than the average Android user. Depending on your point of view this could be because the iPhone user is frivolous and the Android user is frugal or it could be that the Android user is just a tightwad. Personally I think that just owning an iPhone proves that you part with your money easier than most people, but that's just my opinion.
Either way you'll not convince too many people that the guy with the expensive smartphone and accompanying expensive data plan is poor regardless of what model that phone is. And make no mistake: they're all expensive.
no, they're not. the San Francisco is a hundred and four quid on pay as you go with a £10 topup. Apple store sells unlocked iPhones for £428. You can get an iPhone for a lot cheaper but not without signing up to a hefty contract that bumps the cost up massively.
So it's you that has made a mistake, they are NOT all expensive, certainly not in relation to each other.
...acne treatment light is about 420** nano-meters. Several manufacturers now produce LED's at this wavelength.
The latest in stage lighting uses them in 7-color LED instruments. They are also popular in overpriced medical lamps.
Yes, Herby, you could find violet paint chips, and make a reflector, But a filter*** would be more comfortable, and could be worn in sunlight or used over wide spectrum "actinic" lamps.
IANAD, but the best treatment for acne is to express sebum from healthy skin and spread it on skin and lips. I often use "nose oil" as an emergency lubricant for metal and plastic.
* By making a link to Wikipedia.
** Another victory for the pot lobby.
*** You could also ingest colloidal silver until your skin turned blue. Since this is not reversible, not recommended unless you want to pursue a career appearing at Star Trek conventions.
This post has been deleted by its author
...ironically, is an effective and traditional Chinese remedy for many skin complaints including acne. Really is - the fat makes a oily antiseptic barrier cream similar to savlon which also kills the demodex mites responsible for the more horrific forms like rosacea.
Probably something of a marketing challenge in the west though....
[Health Warning: Generally speaking, it is best to run screaming from traditional Chinese remedies]
Sounds similar to those apps that claim to repel mosquitos using ultrasound, except there's plenty of free apps for people not stupid enough to pay good money for that sort of unproven pseudo-science.
No idea whether it worked on the mosquitos, but it certainly repelled my cats.
Before paying an FTC fine surely a refund should be a priority?
Pay all earnings back to Google who have the infrastructure to push a refund to the registered card and pull the app with a message explaining why. Any money left over (because the account/card doesn't exist anymore) can be given to charity ....
.... then fine the fraudulent developers!
Apples approval process is just to check the application follows the rules - can't see what rule this broke.
In fact I don't understand why they were fined. If people want to pay a few quid to strap a phone to their face that changes colours in the belief that it makes their skin better, then I think they should be allowed to.
There are quite a few homeopathy related applications on smartphones. Are they going to be removed and fined next?
I'm speculating, but I'd hazard a guess that these apps, being written by amateur charlatans, made the mistake of claiming that they "will" cure acne, whereas the homeopathic apps, being written by professional charlatans, said something to the effect that they offer a 100% guarantee that their remedy will, on average, give results equivalent to what so-called 'medical science' refers to as a 'placebo'.
Reg, thank you so much for this report, it has just given me the best inspiration ever.
I'm going to write an app to reduce the carbon footprint of your phone! Simply by running the app, black magic will happen and the world will be saved! I'm going to make a fortune off some of the stupidest and most gullible people the world has ever seen :D
[patent pending]
You obviously got as far as the 3300 Android user part of the article and the undeserved Apple superiority complex kicked in forcing you to comment before reading any further. Here is the bit you missed:
11,600 iPhone users had to pay twice that for AcneApp
$1.98 for the same scam and 11600 people were willing to pay for it so yes 'the iPhone mob are a bit dopey!?!'
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