This link has been bookmarked by 46 people . It was first bookmarked on 28 Apr 2007, by Orlin Monad.
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Amazon and Google have recently shattered a common misconception: that free APIs are a commons of goodies to be built on top of for fun and profit, like open source software. If you think that, then here are six things you need to know about free APIs:
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29 Jun 07
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27 Jun 07
Alan LevineAmazon and Google have recently shattered a common misconception: that free APIs are a commons of goodies to be built on top of for fun and profit, like open source software
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23 Jun 07
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Lambert Hellera common misconception: that free APIs are a commons of goodies to be built on top of for fun and profit, like open source software
api mashup business Web2.0 soa webservice webdev year:2007 lang:en blogpost torkington
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21 Jun 07
mptsk .# For these reasons, there's no such thing as a free API if you're looking to build a business.
web2.0 free api entrepreneurship legal internet business programming
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20 Jun 07
Michel BauwensAmazon and Google have recently shattered a common misconception: that free APIs are a commons of goodies to be built on top of for fun and profit, like open source software. If you think that, then here are six things you need to know about free APIs:
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13 May 07
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Chris TagalotAmazon and Google have recently shattered a common misconception: that free APIs are a commons of goodies to be built on top of for fun and profit, like open source software. If you think that, then here are six things you need to know about free APIs:
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30 Apr 07
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28 Apr 07
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- Free APIs are not a god-given right. Businesses offer them for their own self-interested reasons. If you build on top of the API but aren't delivering the value for the business that provides the API, your use of the API will probably go away.
- If you build your own business on top of an API, you need a contractual relationship to ensure the service doesn't get taken away from you. These generally cost money.
- If you find a way to get something from a site that isn't explicitly offered as something for you to build on, your use of it will probably be fought unless you're delivering value as in (1).
- The provider of your API will find it easier to implement services on top of their API than you will. Therefore you have to add something of your own that's difficult to replicate, something beyond a simple UI tweak or a feature like "search", so that the business that provides the API doesn't simply compete with you when you look like you're succeeding.
- For these reasons, free APIs are a very poor substitute for having the source and the data and thus owning and controlling every piece of your application.
- For these reasons, there's no such thing as a free API if you're looking to build a business.
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Pick a handful of the biggest companies in the valley. Mix in the biggest and best VCs on Sand Hill Road. Now imagine they've all come knocking on your door, checkbook in hand. Now imagine you've turned them all down without even hearing what the number is.
That's our situation and it's real. I can't predict the future, obviously, but we have zero incentive to sell. Our business is profitable, growing, and we love it. Why would we turn it over to someone else who's unlikely to love it as much?
Going public sucks even more than getting acquired. It wrecks your company - we know, we've been there before.
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27 Apr 07
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