APIs are a protocol.
APIs are the lifeblood of the social web.
APIs are the crack handed out to developers by companies looking to be acquired.
APIs are property. Not public property but property of companies wanting to create the illusion of community.
The keys to APIs rest not with us or the developers but rather with the companies who can, and will, change them without a moment’s notice. APIs are the bi-directional firehose of information that companies can, and will turn off as they please.
Developers like all good drug addicts line up at the buy window. They mainline these APIs like there is no tomorrow. They chase the dragon’s tail thinking that it will lead them to Smaug’s treasure. Chances are, the chase will lead them straight down a rabbit hole.
APIs look pretty in the sunshine but they are just another lock on the doors to information. A door is a door and no amount of Open Sesame will make it any different. As long as the keys are held by the company no amount of ‘open’ rhetoric will be more than clown paint on all our faces.
The fact that we continue to believe this is the real weakness – the real chink in the armor.
