https://www.somebits.com/weblog/culture/apis-for-content-sites-must-be-free.html bg image(/~nelson/weblog-files/bgblue/205n.png) Some Bits: Nelson's weblog I hide under my APIs for content sites must be free computer while the world falls Social media businesses should not charge* for down around me. APIs. If a company like Reddit or Twitter derives most of its value from content that users write Mastodon for free then it must provide APIs for anyone to @nelson@tech.lgbt download and manipulate that content. While an Linkblog interactive API that enables third party Wed 2023-06-14 applications is desirable, a simple static dump is the bare minimum to fulfill the social Click languages contract (see StackOverflow or Metafilter for examples.) LGBTQ+ flags Unfortunately Twitter and Reddit don't agree. Starlink Action They are both rent seeking with their APIs. Their Figure main intent is to destroy third party apps that no longer aid the company's business goals. But Sun 2023-06-11 they're also trying to make a few million bucks a year licensing access to data, particularly on Trump supporter the back of AI training. It's wrong. violence The key thing here is social media sites don't Sat 2023-06-10 produce content. They merely host it. Millions of users create the content expecting it will be Tesla Autopilot: widely available. Locking down an API breaks that 17 kills so far social contract. Sat 2023-06-03 Honestly I don't care as much about full fledged third party clients like Apollo or Tweetbot; I California home like them but I understand why the companies want insurance to kill them. What I care about more are analytics sites, things that provide interesting NY Senate Bill alternative views like a Reddit user profile or S6686 Emoji tracking. I also think it is the greater good to let AIs train for free. Chotiner, Koppel, Kissinger *I don't mind a site charging a nominal fee for API access. Either to cover the cost of API Fri 2023-06-02 service itself, or more importantly to encourage API developers to be efficient when making API Sisters of requests. But that's hundreds to thousands of Perpetual dollars a year, not millions. Indulgence The short sighted thing about these API fees is CA power bill they will harm the company in the long term. If change it becomes difficult to use a proper API to get at content folks will simply screen scrape it Lisa Sue of AMD instead. That's bad for everyone. Thu 2023-06-01 culture 2023-06-14 16:23 Z Zelda open world Nelson's Weblog * culture - blogs, books, design, food, games, movies, Wed 2023-05-31 music, olympics, processing, travel, tv Reddit API pricing Tue 2023-05-30 A chiral aperiodic monotile Zelda Osprey (spoilers) Zelda Wiki System Shock oral history Carmel by the Sea addresses Mon 2023-05-29 RAMMap Sun 2023-05-28 Audrey Scholars Search [ ] Archives 2023 06 05 04 03 02 01 2022 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2021 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2020 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2019 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2018 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2017 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2016 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2015 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2014 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2013 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2012 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2011 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2010 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2009 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2008 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2007 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2006 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2005 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2004 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2003 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2002 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2001 12 11 10 09 08 07 [AUBEJEnll] One good site MDN Nelson Nelson Minar nelson@monkey.org Creative Commons License Blog licensed under a Creative Commons License Powered by Blosxom