Apple's App Store crosses the 1.5 billion download mark
By Laura June 
posted Jul 14th 2009 9:54AM
posted Jul 14th 2009 9:54AM
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Turns out that moron app thinks I am a moron...go figure.
The irony is that the moron app costs 99 cents, so you paid to get told that you are a moron, moron.
The app creator must be laughing his way to the bank right about now.
"The irony is that the moron app costs 99 cents, so you paid to get told that you are a moron, moron."
I think that's why it told him he was a moron. The extent of the code for the moron app is probably something like this (if I can remember my old BASIC coding from when I was 8)
START
PRINT "You are a moron"
END
God. At least wait till the 2 billion mark.
At least? you have really high standards if 2B is "at least" in your dictionary.
My question in all of this is how many of those apps are re-downloads bc of the 3GS upgrades people made.
@Ryujin...numbers are unique downloads...when I (and others) upgraded to the 3GS I didn't have to re-download any apps since they are all on my computer I sync with...
1.5 BILLION apps downloaded in 1 year (reason for announcement) is an AMAZING accomplishment for any company. Seriously, Apps have theoretically been around for years on the nokia, blackberry, etc. but I would be willing to bet ALL the other phone app downloads in history from every company except Apple still don't come close to 1.5 billion...probably not even a half billion...that is why this is impressive.
Cheddar, I gotta call bullshit on you. First, you have no way of knowing how many downloads there have been for phone Apps in all of history for companies besides Apple (which is why you just "bet" it was less than 1/2 billion combined). Second, I highly doubt your estimation is accurate at all. I find it hard to believe that Nokia and WinMo phones, with an install base that dwarfs Apple's as well as a much higher number of total apps, could possibly have fewer app downloads than Apple's... let alone less than 1/3 fewer.
@mikey...are you SERIOUS?? "Nokia and WinMo phones... (have) a much higher number of total apps" Honestly, are you SERIOUS??? There is NFW these guys have more apps than Apple...NONE! Did you ever hear the hype/buzz around apps until Apple launched the App store?? Every carrier now advertises how "app friendly" their phones are in an attempt to compete at all with the iPhone.
Sure Nokia has a big user base, too bad they aren't all smartphones. And WinMo may eek out an edge on install base but Apple is catching up fast if not already superseded them. Either way, pre Apple's App store I would be willing to wager the average person had less than 2 externally downloaded (i.e., not packaged w/phone) apps on their phones and that is being generous. The process was not convenient or easy compared to what Apple has set up....ahem as evidenced by the fact EVERYONE is copying them!
Seriously man, you cannot be SERIOUS?
cheddar you're a noob - Palm OS had something like 50,000 apps available - on many different phones.
Stop sucking apple's twig
It's well established that WinMo has hundreds of thousands of apps, which blows the iPhone's sixty-some thousand out of the water. (WinMos just aren't in one tidy little place like the App Store because, you know, WinMo is an open platform)
Plus, you are still forgetting that there are orders of magnitude more Nokia and WinMo phones in use than iPhones... so even if the average number of apps downloaded per Nokia/WinMo phone is a fraction of those of the average iPhone, basic math tells us that there are still way more downloads of Nokia and WinMo apps. Unless you have actual, concrete evidence to the contrary (which you can't possibly have, since there isn't data out there on this), the logical, reasonable assumption is that WinMo and Nokia have more app downloads than iPhones. This isn't to say its better or worse, just more.
I'm sorry that logic escapes you, but (to borrow and old chestnut from Zak or Paul a. Chapel) if you want to prove me wrong go ahead... or offer a rational argument that is little more than saying "SERIOUS" over and over. The one argument you had that even approached trying to refute me is that not all Nokia phones are smart phones. But, a phone doesn't have to be a smart phone to run an App. I had an old Moto flip phone that you could download and play games on about 4 years before the iPhone came out... and it certainly wasn't a smart phone. So, even if most of Nokia's phones aren't smart phones, many if not most of them could still download apps.
Apple did not invent the cell phone App, nor was it the first to allow for app downloads. Perhaps if you had said "Apple has more app store downloads," then of course you are correct, but then you aren't making a fair comparison.
So, my reply to you is "Yes, seriously... Seriously... SERIOUSLY... there is very little chance that the iPhone has had more app downloads than Nokia and WinMo COMBINED."
Today I had for the second time during the day.
Today I had *cake* for the second time during the day.
(darn typo)
Sure you did......
If someone came up to me and said "Cake or Death?", I'm sure I'd say cake too...multiple times.
Today I to you comment.
Not accidentally, no.
Wow, who knew there were so many mindless idiots in the world?
Microsoft does. They keep a running total of how many WinMo phones they sell.
@Dex wow must be a hard job, they are still in single digits.
Single digits with a "Million" tacked on to the end.
Do decimals count?
Maybe 0.0001.
"mindless idiots"....All idiots are mindless by definition
It's like saying "very pregnant." A woman is either pregnant or she is not. She can't be "very pregnant." She can certainly be very far along in her pregnancy, but not "very pregnant."
Manny - what about ultra-liberal college professors? Idiots, yes. Mindless, probably not.
Their phones.
Why on Earth are you referring to any person using a phone different from yours as idiots?
Because every iPhone user I've met cluelessly buys into the Apple marketing machine.
Plus, you said "their phones". Whose phones? I think you meant, "they're".
Oh Alex, you're so very, very wrong. Or did I mean 'your'...?
and?
I love 'em apps at the app store. :)
Someone actually asked me the other day, "Have you downloaded the Moron Test App yet?" Yet. As if it's a foregone conclusion that when you own an iPhone or iPod touch, thou shall buy the moron test. I've avoided that little gem thus far. ;D
Yea, I don't understand how some of these apps become popular. With 60,000+ apps available, *this* is the number one in the App Store.
Maybe that crazy SOB Glen Beck was right to fear for America.
I see 1.5 billion reasons for Microsoft's "groundbreaking" new Windows Marketplace (aka Windows MeToo).
So let me see if I can get this straight.
Here you have Quix basically trying to start a flame war by taking swipes at MS:
"new Windows Marketplace (aka Windows MeToo)."
Added onto both him and Paul on a non Apple story about the MS marketplace, basically trolling there.
And you still keep running this line about Apple "haters" as if you clowns are victims of horrible people that just want to destroy your precious Apple?
WHEN YOU ARE THE ONES THAT ARE ACTUALLY DOING IT YOURSELF!
So I will pose the same question I keep asking you, and you never answer:
If you dont want people to do that type of stuff in Apple stories, why do you keep doing it yourself?
*covers up Paul*
@paul
And yet again you cant answer the question.
Explains everything.
@ Look_Around_You: I just enjoy watching you tools in your Steve Ballmer Underoos work yourselves into a lather every time Apple is mentioned or Microsoft is criticized (and Engadget is infested with your type). Cheap entertainment!
This place was long ago overrun by Apple-hating trolls (like you) who vote down anything positive about Apple or negative about Microsoft. And Engadget appears content to have its comment system a wreck.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em says me.
*pops some popcorn*
And again neither of these tools can answer a simple question.
Just attack and run.
So I will try again, and see if your brains can lock onto the question.
"If you dont want people to do that type of stuff in Apple stories, why do you keep doing it yourself?"
@ Look_Around_You:
Let me try to put this into plain English so you understand. People like you have been crapping all over Apple-related stories on this blog forever - but the past year or so it's become out of control. Anything positive-Apple gets low ranked. Anything negative-Microsoft gets low ranked. Anything bashing Apple gets high ranked. This place has become WinSuperSite from the commenters' perspective, and it's really annoying. Engadget appears unwilling to do anything about it. Thus, fighting fire with fire seems a viable alternative. The old "taste of your own medicine" approach I suppose (minus the low ranks of course - there's no outvoting the Redmond Horde).
You should understand this well, as you are one of the consistent agitators. Your anti-Apple rage would be amusing if it weren't clogging my Inter-tubes.
"Smug pricks" indeed. Take a look in the mirror sometime.
Troll Different.
Quix "I just enjoy watching you tools in your Steve Ballmer Underoos work yourselves into a lather every time Apple is mentioned or Microsoft is criticized (and Engadget is infested with your type). Cheap entertainment!
This place was long ago overrun by Apple-hating trolls (like you) who vote down anything positive about Apple or negative about Microsoft. And Engadget appears content to have its comment system a wreck.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em says me."
So you admit you are intentionally trolling. Thank you *reports*
Also, +1000 for ProfessorDex "*covers up paul*" Brilliant.
@Quix
Riiiiiight. If you say so.
It really everyone else just picking on the poor little Apple users. And it just happened out of the blue too.
Every kook has a reason for their mania. Apple fanatics are no different I suppose, even if they have to make it up.
"Every kook has a reason for their mania." - Looks_Around_You
The same can be said for the epic amount of anti-Apple ranting and raving around here. (At least I have a legitimate reason for hating Microsoft - I've to use their crap 40+ hours a week for the past 15 years...)
Let's see if you can resist taking a dump on the next Apple-related post and go from there, hmm?
Wow.
How appropriate to place this story right after the Windows Mobile Marketplace story.
"Microsoft now releasing Windows Mobile Marketplace with as many as 600 apps at launch this fall! ....
... in other news, The app store has just crossed the 1.5 billionth download mark."
Well done Engadget.
At least they'll be 600 useful apps, unlike "the moron test" and "sally's spa".
@ joblue:
There are plenty of useful apps on the App Store. Sure, there are also useless ones, but I think it's safe to say there are more than 600 useful apps.
@joblue
And you know this, how? Besides, while I quite accept that the App Store has completely useless applications, you also have to consider that what is "useful" to you may well be "useless" to someone else and vice verse.
will these app work across all windows mobile devices?
Actually "sally's spa" is a fun strategy game. it's a good application to teach you about operational optimization, bottlenecks, supply chain, etc. Ever read a book called "Goal"? It's required in a top MBA programs like Harvard, Wharton, etc.
The Microsoft apps will only be compatible with Windows Mobile 6.1, 6.5, and 7.
What an achievement, such a high amount of downloads for only a year.
Maybe theres something to this whole iphone thing........
ooooh !
an orgy for apple fanbios !
... and iHaters, just like every Apple story ever on Engadget.
I would never buy a phone with such restrictions.
But I do own two iPods and lust after the 15" Macbook Pros.
Not everyone falls into either the "fanboy" or "hater" category.
And this is just through the app store!
think about all the generally far more useful and advanced apps downloaded through cydia...
Good job Apple. At least there is only one version of the iPhone OS. Since there are multiple versions of WinMo, so programs can't be used on all phones.
hmmm! only one version.
iPhone OS 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0 are all same, just diff numbers, inn' it
I believe the distinction is that Apple controls the contents of the App Store. Given this they require that all applications available are certified for the current version of the iPhone OS so application vendors are required to recompile their applications for the new OS version otherwise they get removed from the catalogue when the new OS is released. It's a bit draconian but it does at least ensure that everything on the store will work with your iPhone, assuming that Apple doesn't fragment the iPhone market in the future.
so in otherwords Kelmon, the currently available apps DO NOT work on all versions of the iPhone OS, only the current one?
meaning that in this instance, the MS app store would be better in that it supports apps for ALL versions of WinMo?
uh huh
yeap.
@reaperob
so that means that all those iTouch owners MUST PAY to upgrade if they want any new apps once a new version of the OS comes out?
ouch.
@mikeg
I don't think we really know if they work or not. What we do know is that Apple won't sell any applications on its App Store today that have not be compiled for the current iPhone OS. It's hard to say whether a particular application would work or not since it depends on the changes made to the frameworks since the last release that the software was compiled for. What you can say is that Apple guarantees that any application bought from the App Store will run on your iPhone so you effectively don't need to worry about versions of the iPhone OS unless you have no bothered to update your device.
It is a different story for the iPod Touch since users need to buy each major update to the iPhone OS.
There are pros and cons to both approaches. Supporting multiple versions of an OS does mean that users who don't keep up with the latest releases of the OS can still buy applications. Equally, it also means that old applications that are no longer being developed or supported can continue to be sold. But on the other hand it means that developers can become lazy and you'll have to worry about whether and application that was compiled for OS 1 will run on a device running OS 2. Frankly, I think Apple's approach is best, with the exception that it gives the possibility that iPod Touch users who don't want to upgrade can be left behind, since it means that you, as an iPhone customer, don't need to worry about OS versions.
62,336, but how many of them don't suck?
quality over quantity people.
farttttttt
over 1 billion served yest still no developers payed
Oh come on. Yes, some have had problems getting paid, but there are also stories about people giving up their day jobs because they can live on their App Store payments. The world is not black and white.
and yet at WDC09 apple just ditched and dident stick around for cmments when there was well over an hour left explain that one.. also apple is STILL gitting payed yet developers ARNT WTFH
Sorry, can we have your point in English?
Paul,
Does a corporation of Apple's size really need "defending" from snide remarks and haters? Apple is not the scrappy underdog from yesteryear; it is the Microsoft of today. They're just a bit more stylish than Microsoft.
Yep, if someone says the iPhone sucks they're wrong. Apple makes good products. But they aren't without flaws and it would be goddamn nice if you didn't trumpet them as the second coming of Jesus Christ at every opportunity. This article is proof enough that the iPhone is doing well; it doesn't need you to chastise "haters".
You do realize you're throwing stones from a glass house right?
Paul, what will it take for you to go away? And I don't mean temporarily.....I mean forever! Preferably off a high cliff, or into a deep ravine. Please do us all a favor and save us from having to not only weed through, but also low rank your NUMEROUS and pointless posts!
"but how many of them don't suck? quality over quantity people."
...
Dunno. Do you fancy reviewing 60,000+ applications? Theoretically, this is what the Reviews system is there for on the site but I don't know how well it really works in practice. At least they stopped people reviewing applications that they had not bought. I only wish they'd do this on Amazon as well and stop idiots from reviewing unreleased products...
Good job, Apple. Now all they need to do is sort out the issues that will enable it to scale appropriately. Daring Fireball linked to a very good essay on what the problems are and how they can be addressed by Craig Hockenberry. I recommend that anyone interested in the subject should read it:
http://furbo.org/2009/07/10/year-two/
Whether Apple will pay attention to any of this is to be decided but if they don't then there's going to be even more problems down the road. Chief amongst them for me is the fact that developers will find it very difficult to grow their business without support for an Upgrade process to allow existing customers to buy the next version of an application for a discounted price.
Too bad that's about 1.4 billion downloads of pure trash. iPhone apps are the new spam and, yes, I own the phone.
@ borland:
I agree that Apple isn't the underdog any more, but they're far from being Microsoft.
Moreover,
Congratulations to all the third party developers who are making a ton of money from this!
i love how the moron test is on that pic, further proving how trivial milestones such as this one are
There is no way MSFT will buy Palm. Different cultures, different platforms, etc. Palm has innovation at it's core.
Does this count re-downloads or upgrades? most of the applications on my Itouch have had 3 or 4 upgrades if this is true for most apps then you probably would have to divide that number by 3 or 4
Congratulations, Apple. You are truly the masters of exploiting stupidity.
The fact that the best selling app is The Moron Test proves it.
Make it 3 Billion including Installous downloads.
The "quality over quantity" bots are really annoying. The basic assumption is that because there's 60,000+, compared to Pre's 30 and WinMo's 600 the overall percentage of crap-apps is higher. I guess I'd go for the same strategy if I could count the apps available to me on one hand. Give it time... you'll have fart apps on Pre's and WinMo's too. What'll you talk about then?
"The "quality over quantity" bots are really annoying. The basic assumption is that because there's 60,000+, compared to Pre's 30 and WinMo's 600 the overall percentage of crap-apps is higher."
With this statement you make it sound as though you think there are lots of useful apps and very few crap apps on the app store and that people are just assuming there are crap apps because the number of apps is high.
"Give it time... you'll have fart apps on Pre's and WinMo's too. What'll you talk about then?"
With this statement you admit that the app store is chuck full of crappy fart apps and you make it sound completely fanboish. So which is it, are you saying the app store is good or the app store is full of fart apps? Your comment makes no sense.
@Jordan
I believe the point is that there is no "rule" that a high number of applications equates to a low quality applications and that the implications that this rule does exist is based on assumption and bias. There is no such rule. I'm quite certain that there are bad/useless applications on the App Store but I certainly couldn't tell you what ratio they are to good/useful ones. Further, because one man's jewel is another man's crap, the whole subject is, well, subjective.
It may be interesting to see some statistics on the subject based on user reviews in the App Store - that could go some way towards addressing this issue. Ultimately, however, reviews will be subjective and therefore there is no science to the measurement of quality in any particular software store.
Yep, if someone says the iPhone sucks they're wrong. Apple makes good products. But they aren't without flaws and it would be goddamn nice if you didn't trumpet them as the second coming of Jesus Christ at every opportunity. This article is proof enough that the iPhone is doing well; it doesn't need you to chastise "haters".
He's doing it on purpose to get attention.
Post over the top, slobbering love post about Apple, while at the same time troll in non-Apple stories. Lie when called on it, and brand everyone a "Apple hater" to try to deflect criticism about Apple or the childish behavior of Apple fanatics. He invites people to dump on him while feigning complete innocence.
His post are routinely low-ranked by both Apple users and non-Apple users alike. He's even been banned before only to sign-up with names like P.A.C. Man.
So he is really just a rodeo clown, that is actually making level-headed Apple fans look like nutjob cultist. I honestly wish more Apple users would start calling him out on his BS.
"There's a lot of shareware software for Windows, but how many of them don't suck?"
When's the last time you saw Microsoft flaunting the number of apps available for windows?
I have decided that Paul either:
a). Works for Engadget, hence the reason he has yet to be banned. His sole job is to post comments to get people going and to boost comment counts and page hits.
b). Is some lonely lonely lonely 30 hear old fat man living in his mom's basement who thrives on getting people riled up by posting the most incompetent posts ever
c). Is a 14 year old boy who think he's cool because he owns a Mac but in all reality he really knows nothing about technology and why the majority of people choose to use PCs instead of a Mac. All of his knowledge comes from Wikipedia which is why every time someone pressures the comments he makes he ends up contradicting himself and looking more unintelligent everyday.
"how many times have you chastised the Apple Haters for their behavior?"
All the time. It's called down voting and/or reporting. But you are one of the few that's frequent enough I actually remember their name. And you actually seem to believe what you're saying, which is a different class of troll. But riddle me this Batman, if everyone else calls Steve Jobs a homo, does that mean you're free to be a dick to other people? Report them and move on to the gadget love.
Lord, everyone can get into a snit when their respective precious is under attack. But with people like you, it's ALL the friggin time. And yeah, I'll probably notice a troll for the Pre less, but if all he has to say is "iSucks blows" I'll downvote him as fast as I do you. It's all I really care to do most of the time for anyone.
@ Ben:
Microsoft may never bring up the quantity of Windows apps available, but other people routinely use it as criticism of the Mac platform. I've actually found it ironic that Apple fans who are frustrated by this argument (and rightly so) are often the same people who cite to-the-minute counts of iPhone apps.
How many apps there are in Android?
@borland
EXACTLY!
Just look at this slobbering bull just above your post.
"Never in the history of the internet has so many Apple Haters been so universally WRONG in their predictions about Apple and managed to create such a fake facade in the face of overwhelming evidenc..."
He just keeps trying to self-nail himself to a cross. He is turning into a total parody of the parody he already is.
@jeff: "I agree that Apple isn't the underdog any more, but they're far from being Microsoft."
Not as far as you'd think though. I mean they aren't as hard core about actively screwing competition, and they certainly have a better UI team (Windows 7 is the first time they seem to be trying). However, the closed architecture is a philosophical problem to me and a trait they share with Microsoft.
However, Microsoft was ever only a software company and Apple controls both the horizontal and vertical. Just because they're more stylish than Microsoft doesn't mean I welcome an overlord any more. They recognize software standards (HTML 5, etc), but resist hardware ones (HDMI, USB, etc).
So I guess I'm a little alarmed a Apple's rise to power because the industry hasn't even finished teaching Microsoft a lesson yet. But I'm certainly not going to say that Apple produces crap.
"Never in the history of the internet have gadget sites like Engadget been inundated with Apple Haters who regularly accuse them of bias, just because the writers of said sites readily cover a company that has set the computing world on fire. And never before has hypocrisy such as this been allowed to fester in so many provinces of the internet without check for so long."
I hate to break it to you Paul, but keep claming "Never in the history of the Internet" all you want, but in all reality, the Internet has not been around to the masses for all that long - so your comment just sounds stupid like all the other ones.
Microsoft gets bashed everyday. Yet I never see someone on here calling people Microsoft-Haters whenever they say ANYTHING negative. Your favorite term, Apple-Haters, sounds childish. Like you're that kid in middle school who really isn't cool and gets picked on so you resort to name calling. You can love your Apple products as much as you want, I and nobody on here cares, just stop spewing your crap all over the world. You posting crap all over Engadget is not going to get Apple more sales, which we all know you would love. People who see your comments and actually take time to read them are the ones who already know how moronic you are. You are not convincing the everyday computer user to go buy Apple products, you are actually just wasting your time.
Do you think people actually remember anything you have said 2 hours after they get off their computer? Do you think people really care what you think? I know the same can be said for me posting replies to your spewage, but I have a feeling there are more people on this site that feel the same way I do than they do you.
You are probably the most annoying troll on this website. Congratulations on that. Wake up and realize how much of your life you are wasting to posting crap for only a few people in the world to see. If you think Engadget is a big website on the Internet, you're very wrong. If you think tons of thousands of people come here just waiting to get the latest news and that you will be here to talk up Apple, you're wrong. I'm willing to bet half the people who visit this site regularly just skim through the headlines, never read a story, and really don't want to look through a bunch of comments.
In short - do yourself and the world a favor and just stop posting. If you posted logical arguments and stopped resorting to "Apple-Haters", I'm sure no one would mind if you were around, but the way you act now - just stop.
"What will borland502 have to say about this? Oh, that's right, nothing."
Pretty much. Don't ask me to be a prophet to the Apple cause simply to make a point. And it doesn't excuse you from being a dick either. Anyway, it's lunch time.
Paul, you spend too much time one here...
Yeah you back up your arguments real well. I mean that logical conversation you think we had yesterday, let's recall:
First you stated that you couldn't tell when a program was open in Windows 7. I, and others, pointed out to you that an open program is represented by a big glowing box and is more distinguishable than OSX. You never mentioned it again or tried to back up your argument.
Then you stated that when you used Windows your computer got infected with "hundreds of viruses through no interaction at all". I then informed you that no one has ever gotten infected with hundreds of viruses. Your next statement stated "it wasn't hundreds, rather thousands of viruses." After I disputed that argument you decided well "maybe it was only a couple viruses." Yeah, Paul, you backed up your argument real well. That's how you back up all your arguments. You don't.
If you were gone, there would not be near as many "Apple Haters", as you like to call them, posting. If you haven't noticed, you start most of the flame wars on here and the only reason people post is because of how stupid you sound and how moronic and uninformed your comments are.
I'm sure I could come up with many more examples of how well you've backed up your arguments. I will not waste my time going through old posts to find these instances, though I'm sure I wouldn't have to look hard since you do it all the time, but everybody knows, Paul cannot logically back up his arguments.
Paul...hate to disagree but Apple has 65,000+ apps on the App store...
"In just one year, customers have downloaded more than 1.5 billion apps from the App Store, Apple today announced. The largest application store in the world, the App Store now contains more than 65,000 apps. It provides the 100,000 developers in the iPhone Developer program an easy way to reach iPhone and iPod touch customers in 77 countries around the world" - Steve Jobs
"Yes, it seems like only yesterday (or about 3 months ago) that Apple crossed a landmark -- 1 billion apps downloaded from its App Store -- and here we are again. Apple's just issued a press release stating that it's now seen another half a billion apps downloaded in about three months -- putting them over the 1.5 billion mark. Apple doesn't get all the kudos to themselves, though: after all, someone's been downloading The Moron Test. A lot."
Must have something very tight up your a.. Looks like you could do with a moron test yourself.
1.5 BILLION apps downloaded in 1 year (reason for announcement) is an AMAZING accomplishment for any company. Seriously, Apps have been around for years on the nokia, blackberry, etc. but I would be willing to bet ALL the other phone app downloads in history from every company except Apple still don't come close to 1.5 billion...probably not even a half billion...that is why this is impressive.
Wow, that sure didn't take long from the 1 billion mark last month!!!
@ Paul "I will ask this again, why aren't you guys criticizing them?"
Because, dear Paul, they only posted once or twice with their pointless comments, you have posted 10 times already under this original poster... who is ALSO YOU! That is a total of 11 comments by you on a post with about 100 comments (right now). So you are responsible for 10% of the comments just in this string (I haven't even bothered to count how many times you posted in other strings).
You had to know you were going to start a flame war with at least one of your posts (if that wasn't your original intent with your original post). Alex, nevvamind, and GenKhan2 just obliged your desired by engaging in the flame war. Your question is basically asking "So the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor?... aren't the Americans equally to blame for all the war they made after that with Japan?" It's a ridiculous argument on its face.
@Paul
Here is your answer.
We dont know any of those guys. If they post flame-bait randomly and inconsistently, then so what? You expect that type of bull on a site like this.
If those guys were doing it consistently, getting low-ranked, while then going on posts about Microsoft and saying some nonsense like:
"This just proves how awesome MS is compared to anything out there. All of you Microsoft- haters have been totally vanquished too the lower realms of haterdom..."
Then they will have achieved Paul and Quix level of douchbaggery and DESERVE the same scorn you do.