I agree with that assesment, too. The problem I see that I feel the situation is presented as a black-and-white choice when in fact it isn't. The developer monetary reward is a question of business model, not freedom/freeness of their applications. I think that the appstore has unfortunately caused a bit of tunnel-vision for a lot of people, thinking that such an approach is the only and/or best one, disregarding it's only a facet of a very carefully planned ecosystem not necessarily yielding the same success/results if directly transplanted to another ecosystem, especially if it's anything like our NITs.

@zerojay: I think GeraldKo is referring to cases like the Zaurus. Sure, the Zaurus might have died, but the legacy (and Angstrom ) lives on.