Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://appshopper.com/navigation/mygps

I keep tabs on applications in the iTunes Store that drop to free as it's a chance to try out an application that otherwise I wouldn't bother with.

Sometimes when looking at the apps, you see some very odd behaviour. At the link is a program called "MyGPS". Since its introduction in mid-February this year, it's changed price just under 40 times, typically dropping to free and then back up, usually on the same day.

The main reason this price volatility caught my eye is probably the same reason that the author does this: I downloaded it thinking it was free when in fact it had just gone back up in price. I wasn't paying enough attention as I should have been (caveat emptor and all that) but this isn't what I would have called upstanding ethical behaviour on the part of the author. I've not spent much time seeing how many others do this, but I frankly wouldn't be too surprised to see that it's widespread.