"Strom likens the App Store to a lottery, with the time and cost spent developing your application as the price of admission. And I think he’s right in this respect. The thing is, I don’t really see how this differs from many professions where the rich and elite are given heavy media coverage while everyone else toils away in obscurity."

Maybe not, but it's a lot different than developing for the web or Facebook, where you can continuously iterate on your product, get better over time, attract a few loyal users and expand from there. The difference between iPhone and other software platforms is like the difference between trying to become a pop star or starting a software company.