When Apple launched its "top grossing apps" list yesterday, the same also appeared on the French store. The list was titled "CLASSEMENT APPS LUCRATIVES" (see snapshot below, taken on iTunes 8+).
This morning on iTunes 9, the title is different. It reads "Rentabilité"
Not sure if the translation has been modified server side, or whether it's an iTunes 8 -> 9 difference.
Nevertheless, it shows that the terminology here isn't a trivial affair. First of all, the term "rentabilité" is incorrect (because Apple has no way of knowing if the app in question is turning a profit -- as in "rentable"-- or not). Then the nature of the list is bound to be quite controversial in countries like France where indeed, financial success is rarely seen as socially acceptable (!).
In any case, we're glad to see that the list that
we released on August 25 was both ahead of its time, and in line with what Apple has just released. In fact, the community has long been asking for such a ranking; we're wondering if it's the pressure from the community or the fact that we let the cat out that prompted Apple to finally release this list.
The debate continues as the quest for the ultimate discovery system carries on. End users want 1 click solutions, analysts want all the data, power users and hackers want to understand and not be hindered by deadlocks. We're with you on all fronts, and we know that Apple is too albeit with their super top secret master plan.
Here's a note to our French readers, to avoid losing anyone in translation:
Si vous cherchez à faire du chiffre d'affaire ("gross revenue"), mais peut-être surtout dégager le moindre bénéfice ("profit") c-a-d d'en faire une affaire rentable, alors n'oubliez pas de lire ce billet et de choisir le bon prix pour votre app! [GOOGLE TRANSLATION HERE]
