i left the iphone game middle of last year. i had some fun but it wasn't the business i wanted to be in. anyways, these new rules are in keeping with apple's general disregard for developers. i don't think this particular rule would have affected me so much because i had already resigned myself to writing obj-C (which i grew to like after a while).
the general theme i see in some apple's more controversial policy changes (e.g. removing erotic apps, restricting developer tools) is to improve the quality of apps, both in terms of content and performance. i think a lot of the problems they have stem from the structure of the app store and that's what's incentivizing shitty, throwaway apps. restricting developer resources seems like a short sighted approach to addressing this. honestly, if they just started ranking apps by total revenue generated (instead of download volume) i think a lot of their problems would be solved. developers would be far more willing to put the time into making a quality app if they thought they could actually charge more than $0.99 for it without getting pushed out of the ranking.
this was one of the reasons i left iphone development. i spent a month or so working on a knockoff of Set (called Fetch). A friend did the graphics, i implemented wireless multiplayer. I really tried to create a nice application. I barely made enough to pay the designer and certainly didn't make enough to account for the time spent on it. I made another app called eyeTrip in a day. Not quite as dumb as Sound Grenade, but close :) Anyways, i made more money in a day off of that then i made off of Fetch. Once I realized that was the game, I started looking for a job.
I guess my little story is not specifically related to the OP, but the point is that there are much larger problems with developing for the app that are driving away developers.
There is a "Top Grossing" app store list, currently at the bottom right of the landing page. #1 is currently MLB 2010 which is $15. #2 is The Sims 3, $6.99. #3 is Red Laser, 99¢.
#6 is an app called "iRa Pro" which integrates with surveillance systems to show you the current feeds, and costs $900.
the general theme i see in some apple's more controversial policy changes (e.g. removing erotic apps, restricting developer tools) is to improve the quality of apps, both in terms of content and performance. i think a lot of the problems they have stem from the structure of the app store and that's what's incentivizing shitty, throwaway apps. restricting developer resources seems like a short sighted approach to addressing this. honestly, if they just started ranking apps by total revenue generated (instead of download volume) i think a lot of their problems would be solved. developers would be far more willing to put the time into making a quality app if they thought they could actually charge more than $0.99 for it without getting pushed out of the ranking.
this was one of the reasons i left iphone development. i spent a month or so working on a knockoff of Set (called Fetch). A friend did the graphics, i implemented wireless multiplayer. I really tried to create a nice application. I barely made enough to pay the designer and certainly didn't make enough to account for the time spent on it. I made another app called eyeTrip in a day. Not quite as dumb as Sound Grenade, but close :) Anyways, i made more money in a day off of that then i made off of Fetch. Once I realized that was the game, I started looking for a job.
I guess my little story is not specifically related to the OP, but the point is that there are much larger problems with developing for the app that are driving away developers.