Yeah, I don't count that For the first 2-3 years, you could install an app and uninstall it at any time in the next day with zero penalty. It was fantastic, and I really think it made me buy more apps than I would have otherwise. Now I'm afraid to try out paid apps.

My bet is that developers complained because some of them were having a lot of uninstalls and refunds. My response would be: make better apps. I know that's easy for me to say, but there's a lot of crap out there, and not all of it is free.

What I'll say in Google's defense is this: their phone support for the Play Store is excellent. A few months ago I bought a Slingbox, and along with it I purchased both of their $30 apps for the phone and the tablet. It wasn't until using it for a week that I realized how bad the apps were, and that's where I most wanted to use the service. I returned the device, but was worried I'd be out $60 for the two apps. A 10 minute call to the support line for the Google Play Store resulted in a full refund. I was very impressed.