That was exactly my point. If apps were sold the same way DVDs were, then placing in the App Store wouldn't matter as much. My feeling is it's actually possible to sell apps this way. For instance, the Ocarina app had so many people writing about it that I believe it would still have sold many copies at $5, especially if the people writing about it could easily toss in an affiliate link.

Perhaps the same would be true of AdSense sales.