I think the economic value of the app industry period has been basically kneecapped by apple anchoring $1 as the proper price of an app. There's just so much work you can put into something that earns $.70 and still make a living. And yes, nobody has a right to a living, but software gets complex fast and it's shocking how quickly even relatively simple software starts to demand a lot of time from a developer.

I'm also not privy to any of Parse's plans, but I'd bet they're going to allow server side logic. A small dev without anybody particularly experienced at being a sysadmin seems like one of their sweet spots. Learning the ins and outs of ssl / nginx / caching / security / the many unexpected ways server software will fuck you may be better outsourced.