Back in my day when they hit a milestone, they gave away an iMac, TEN iPods (what we now know as classics) for you and your friends, AND a $10,000 gift card.

*rocking chair squeak-length pause*

Times have changed.

There were a few apps that I was planning on downloading soon, and I'll be following that counter and I'm going to try and time my move perfectly!

I wouldn't mind 10k. I'd convert them into 20 shares of AAPL. That's what I'd do with the extra 10k. Either that, or maybe spend it on some hookers and blow. That's also a pretty good use for 10k.

edit - Oh, it's a giftcard, not even cash. Well, that kind of blows.

Well that's it, they just hit the 25 billion mark. That was quick.

I have excellent rhythm and timing, and if I didn't win, then I was pretty damn close, because I made my move at the right spot. I just downloaded some random free app, and now I'm going to delete it.

I saw the headline and for less than a second thought the grand prize would be $25B. Apple has the money for it.

Honestly, I don't think I could spend $10,000 in my lifetime on iTunes content... Maybe books.

I agree with the first post. Where's the free iPad 3 or Mac? I guess beggars can't be choosers.

1) Just to be crystal clear an app download is defined as when an iTunes Store account holder buys an individual app. It does not count updates or when a user deletes and app and then re-downloads it from the user. It will count multiple versions of the same app if they are not Universal or if there is a free and paid version. For instance, Words with Friends and Word Free, Words with Friends HD and Word with Friends HD Free are 4 different apps.

2) According to their counter they have 3.7 million apps to go and they selling 10,000 every 15 seconds. 702,000,000 ÷ 40,000 = 17,550 ÷ 60 = 292.50 hours = 12.19 days to go.