Show HN: Visualizing the iOS App Store via D3.js

For anyone interested - using the console & a quick bit of js the top "profiters" (dowloads * price) were:

    Cut the Rope - $26433990
    Infinity Blade - $15340390
    Ski On Neon - $15246990
    Minecraft – Pocket Edition - $12519090
    Infinity Blade II - $11680290
    Cover Orange - $9712890
    Tap Tap Revenge 4 - $8061490
    Air Penguin - $7762590
    Fruit Ninja - $7633890
    Draw Something - $7268690

        data.forEach(function(d){
           d.profit = (d["Est. Downloads*"] * d.Price);
        })
        data.sort(function(a,b){return b.profit-a.profit});
        for(i = 0; i < 10; i++){
           console.log(data[i].name + " - $" + data[i].profit);
         }

Each curve/line is an individual app with each point representing that app's stats in downloads, reviews, etc. You can use the different axis to see trends. Ie, there is (obviously) a correlation between number of downloads and reviews. You can check out a bit about the history of the visualization at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_coordinates

I don't see you as coming down harsh at all, it's a data visualization that requires some math skills. Having an interest in, or understanding of higher dimensional geometry is not for everyone. Basically you can spot positive and negative correlations using these kinds of visualizations.

Parallel coordinates is based on projective geometry, and has a point-line duality with orthogonal (cartesian) coordinates. Points in orthogonal coordinates become lines in parallel coordinates.

Few parallel coordinates applications take advantage of the fact that you can show lines in orthogonal coordinates as points in parallel coordinates though. It's one of the few effective ways of representing hyperplanes and hyperlines. Interpreting that is tricky though. Even people who "get" traditional parallel coordinates would have a tough time at first.

Think of it as a multidimensional scatterplot, where lines are a necessary concession to map N-space to 2-space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duality_(projective_geometry)