If you’d pay $175 for a hamburger, then it stands to reason you’d pay $1000 for an iPhone app that does next to nothing… doesn’t it?

Let’s face it, you’d need to have serious amounts of cash to burn before forking out $1000 for the functionless I Am Rich app, which simply displays a red gem, and is effectively only a status symbol unto itself.

That point seems to be lost on quite a few people though.

I Am Rich isn’t the most clever piece of art, but it’s not bad either. For some, the iPhone is already an obvious display of wealth and I Am Rich is commenting on that. Plus, buying more than you need as an indication of wealth is practically an American core value for a growing segment of the population. Is paying $5000 for a wristwatch or $50,000 for a car when much cheaper alternatives exist really all that different than paying $1000 for an iPhone app?

You wouldn’t catch me buying it, even if I had that sort of money, but if someone else wishes to make the informed decision to do so, who I am to argue?

In any event I Am Rich has been withdrawn from the iPhone App Store so I guess we’ll have to think up another get-rich-quick idea now.

Update: Chris Glass has made a completely free web based version of the I Am Rich app available for your use.