Yes, it's stupid. Yes, I've done it.
Yup. If you take a step back, you're spending money on doing something that you enjoy. It's no different than buying a candy bar for a dollar at the checkout line. Frivolous but enjoyable. I used to think it was a pretty dumb way to blow money, but aside from the time-spent-enjoying factor, there's also the cost factor...for perspective, an Xbox game is like $59 a pop. I think
all of the IAP's I've made on my iPhone in the past 9 years adds up to less than that.
It also really bugs me when people will blow money on something stupid, but not on a quality mobile app. Case in point, I had a few friends who were taking a photography class together & were planning on using their 12-megapixel iPhones. I told them to buy Camera+, which is an
amazing photography & editing app for $2.99 that lets you separate out focus & exposure when taking shots, do a variety of Lightroom-style edits, and has a bunch of other great features - no computer required, no complex Photoshop program to learn, just awesome, easy photo-taking & photo-editing. It's three bucks. None of them bought it. But every single day, they would show up with $7 lattes from Starbucks. Really?
Really?