Hey guys and gals,
Like you, I watched as my friends bought the very first shiny silver iPhones - back then, they got tied down to various mobile plans - such as those (very) expensive plans by AT&T. True, it costed quite a bit - but we bought the iPhone nevertheless, because it was such a special device, and, well, it was shiny, too :)
Then, out came the iPhone 3G - something which was much more beautiful than the very first iPhone - but then again, we had to fork out cash once more - just to get much faster internet speeds (you know, the 3G stuff always makes things faster) and of course, the ability to run the latest and greatest iPhone applications!
Initially, most (if not all) of the applications were free, and we could grab them off many various websites - for, right, as you said - FREE.
Then came the hammer of Apple, the Application Store (aka the App Store) - and everything, was no longer about the joys of having an iPhone. Everything was about the money - even for simple stuff such as say, Forwarding SMS'es - they wanted to charge US, loyal iPhone customers - MONEY! True, it was just 99 cents, but it makes up alot once we start clicking that "Buy It Now" button.
This site was set up to give back to the community, to make iPhone applications free once again - for the masses!