1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,239 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 4 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: are you? You know, when I was a kid, we 5 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: called applications programs, or sometimes we called them software, but 6 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: mainly we called them programs. Heck, it's what the digital 7 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: characters in the film Tron referred to one another, as 8 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: they would say, greetings, program. But then again, when I 9 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: was a kid, hardly anyone even had a computer. If 10 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: you did have a computer, you know, it was its 11 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: own device. It was air gapped because there was no 12 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,200 Speaker 1: such thing as a public internet yet. I mean maybe 13 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: if you were working with you know, arpinnet or something, 14 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: you had a system that was connected, but most of 15 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: us didn't. Also, when I was a kid, the movie 16 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: ticket was four bucks and Disney World was just the 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: Magic Kingdom. Also had to walk to school and it 18 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: was uphill both ways, and you know, you get the drift. 19 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,479 Speaker 1: But then things change, right, For instance, Disney went ahead 20 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: and built three other theme parks at Disney World, and 21 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: movie tickets got way more expensive, and we also started 22 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: calling programs applications and something else would emerge that would 23 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: change programming, the rise of the Application programming interface or API. 24 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: So we're doing a tech stuff tidbits about what APIs 25 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: are and where they come from. Now. To be clear, 26 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: the actual concept of the API is quite old. It 27 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: comes from way before my time. So arguably you could 28 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: say the earliest work that would evolve into what we 29 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: would later be called an API actually started back in 30 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: the nineteen forties. But the reason is because you had 31 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: all these different teams around the world making computer systems. 32 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: These systems were kind of you know, they were independent, 33 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: they weren't interoperable, they weren't compatible. So there were people 34 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: who saw the need to create tools that would allow 35 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 1: for at least some interoperability. Otherwise you're really limiting innovation, 36 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: right If you've got a brilliant programmer, a brilliant developer 37 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: who has come up with this great idea for a 38 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: computer program, but they're only familiar with one computer system, 39 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: you've really limited the utility of that program, at least 40 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: until someone who is familiar with a different computer system 41 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: can come along and then perhaps port that program to 42 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: other systems. So there was the recognition of a need 43 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: to create sort of a common ground that could work 44 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: across different computer systems. The actual term for API, at 45 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,640 Speaker 1: least a version of this term, because back then it 46 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: was called application program interface rather than programming, shows up 47 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: in a paper that was titled Data Structures and Techniques 48 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: for Remote Computer Graphics. It was written by Ira W. 49 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 1: Cotton and Frank S. Great Rex, which might be the 50 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: best surname I've ever seen great Res Anyway, the paper 51 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: describes the technology needed to allow for a quote, providing 52 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: a remotely accessed interactive computer graphics system end quote. So 53 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 1: not an API as we would understand it today, at 54 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: least not the kind of API we typically talk about 55 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: when you see something about APIs in the tech news 56 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: these days. The authors were seeking to create a sort 57 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: of common ground that programmers could depend upon so they 58 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: wouldn't have to worry about the underlying hardware, because, like 59 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: I said, the underlying hardware was often unique to a 60 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: specific system. Sometimes even the same computer company might make 61 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: different models that are in aherently incompatible with one another, 62 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: which means you would have to relearn everything in order 63 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: to develop for the new platform. So yeah, an application 64 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: programming interface was kind of an approach to sort of 65 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: create almost like a universal translator just for computer systems, 66 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,919 Speaker 1: not for people, but for computer systems, so that programmers 67 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: wouldn't have to specialize in something and potentially end up 68 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: becoming obsolete themselves. Right if you were a programmer and 69 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: you tied yourself down to a specific type of computer, 70 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: and let's say that that computer company goes out of business, 71 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: you would have all this knowledge and expertise that was 72 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: sunk into something that no longer was relevant. That would 73 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: be disastrous on your part. You would have to start 74 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: all over again. So APIs could help create a method 75 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: for creating bridging material between computer systems. In nineteen seventy four, 76 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: which is still technically before my time, only by a 77 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: little bit, a paper by CJ. Date titled the Relational 78 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: and Network Approaches Comparison of the Application Programming Interface would 79 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: not only add ing to programs, and now we got 80 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: application program Ming interface. This paper also expanded the concept 81 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: of an API, in this case involving databases. So not 82 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: just computer systems. Now now we're talking about databases and 83 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: ways to be able to create a bridging material so 84 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: that you could access different databases through the same application. 85 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: This led to the American National Standards Institute as well 86 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: as the Standards Planning and Requirements Committee to define and 87 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: adopt API for database management systems. What happened next was 88 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: that programmers and computer scientists began to develop APIs for 89 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: all sorts of computational tasks. We had seen it for 90 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: database management, and we would see it for other stuff too. 91 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: These APIs would support different programming languages, so that programmers 92 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:03,600 Speaker 1: could make use of the API without worrying about which 93 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: programming language they needed to use when they were creating 94 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: the program because not all programmers are fluent in every 95 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: programming language, they typically specialize in a couple. In turn, 96 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: the API would become, as Carl Malamud put it, a 97 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: way to make quote a set of services available to 98 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:27,559 Speaker 1: a programmer for performing certain tasks end quote. Which seems 99 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: vague in general, but that was on purpose, right. It 100 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: wasn't meant to pigeonhole API for specific uses, but rather 101 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: making it an umbrella term for a way of allowing 102 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: developers to access a set of services that were well 103 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: suited for performing certain tasks. It was all about kind 104 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: of removing some of the challenges to programming right That 105 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: whole thing about let's not reinvent the wheel. That's kind 106 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 1: of what API was all about, was creating these sort 107 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: of standardized approaches so that programmers could really focus on 108 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: making better programs with a shorter development process that and 109 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: not have to worry about reinvention all the time. Now, 110 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: I would argue that the types of APIs that we 111 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: typically talk about today really originate from a dissertation that 112 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: was made by a guy named Roy Fielding while he 113 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: was pursuing his PhD. He called his dissertation Architectural Styles 114 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: and the Design of Network Based Software Architectures. Now that 115 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: title doesn't scream API, right. If I just saw that 116 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: title listed on a citation list, I wouldn't immediately think, oh, 117 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: that that's a paper about APIs. But it is actually, 118 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: and Fielding also presented ideas about how APIs work in 119 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: the age of the Internet. So he wrote this dissertation 120 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: in two thousand. At that time, there was an emerging 121 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: technology that would shape the Web and later the mobile Internet, 122 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: and that was the Web API or the web AP 123 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: as I would prefer to call it, But then no 124 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: one would know what I was talking about, so I 125 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: won't do that again. But in two thousand, and that 126 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: same year, Salesforce would release what a lot of folks 127 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: would point to as the first modern API. In fact, 128 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: we even have a precise date for this, which is 129 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: unusual when I'm talking about the history of stuff. Often 130 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: you can't nail it down to even a specific year. 131 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: But in this case, we have a specific date February seventh, 132 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: two thousand. That's because Salesforce actually unveiled this API during 133 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: the IDG Demo two thousand conference. The Salesforce API allowed 134 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: its customers and Salesforce's customers or other companies. Right, Like, 135 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: you typically have small businesses that are customers of Salesforce 136 00:08:54,960 --> 00:09:03,079 Speaker 1: and they are essentially offloading certain business needs to Salesforce. Well, 137 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: in this case, the API would allow these businesses to 138 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 1: create an ecosystem in which the businesses could share data 139 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: across their different applications. So you know, a business can 140 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: be really really complicated, right. You can have all these 141 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: different departments. You can have each department having its own 142 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: systems you dedicated for that department, which is cool, but 143 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: it also means that you have the danger of each 144 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: department becoming a silo so that you can't easily share 145 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: information from department to department, and that can really end 146 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: up inhibiting innovation and advancements, and it can be a 147 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: big hit on efficiency. So what Salesforce was doing was 148 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: releasing this API where its customers could make use of 149 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: this and be able to share across different applications all 150 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: the same information and make better tools. That would allow 151 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: for these businesses to operate more efficiently and effectively, and 152 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: that would be a better end experience for the user, 153 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: and that philosophy would become sort of an underlying element, 154 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: a foundational element for APIs moving forward. We're going to 155 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: take a quick break. When we come back, i'll explain 156 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: a bit more about how this would develop over the 157 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 1: following years. Okay, we're back, So not too long after 158 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: Salesforce launched its API, like you know, half a year later, 159 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,439 Speaker 1: a little more than half a year, eBay would follow suit. 160 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 1: It launched its API in November of two thousand. This 161 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: would let licensed eBay partners access a framework that would 162 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,439 Speaker 1: allow the developers to incorporate eBay services into other websites, 163 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,440 Speaker 1: and technically it would also allow for applications as well. 164 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: So now like if you were a licensed eBay partner, 165 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: you could incorporate some of ebase functionality into your own website. 166 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: This was a pretty limited version of the API in 167 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: the sense that you had to be a licensed partner first, 168 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: and that was not the easiest thing to do, so 169 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: it was limited in the number of organizations that can 170 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: make use of the API, but the concept was a 171 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: strong one. Amazon would follow behind in two thousand and 172 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: two and it launched its own API as well as 173 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:41,320 Speaker 1: it launched Amazon Web Services. Now this was not the 174 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: fully fledged Amazon Web Services we would talk about today. 175 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:47,840 Speaker 1: That would happen a few years later when we would 176 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,680 Speaker 1: get introduction of a couple of other big tools, but 177 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 1: it was the beginning of a massive move for Amazon, 178 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: one of the most profitable moves that Amazon would ever make. 179 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: If you were a developer, this meant you could actually 180 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,839 Speaker 1: include Amazon functionality on say your web page, and this 181 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: mud give people a chance to search for products and 182 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: do some window shopping right from the comfort of your 183 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: web page. Maybe you even have your web page dimn't 184 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: you know, show off products that you're talking about or 185 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: that are related to whatever the web page is focused on, 186 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,559 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. And it meant that by incorporating 187 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: that directly into your web page. People could access that 188 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: stuff without leaving your site, you know, and your bounce 189 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: rate would go down and your engagement rate would go 190 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: way up. Now, it would take a couple more years 191 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: for other companies to really push into API development. It 192 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: was a little slow. These companies were pioneers and others 193 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: took a bit of time to kind of catch up. 194 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: For one thing, you have to remember, like two thousand, 195 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: two thousand and one, that's when we're talking about the 196 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: dot com bubble bursting, especially in the wake of nine 197 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: to eleven and here in the United States, and so 198 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: that would end up taking a lot of the wind 199 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: out of the sales of companies that otherwise were innovating 200 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: in the web space. So that I think slowed down 201 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: API development. But one of the things we did see 202 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,359 Speaker 1: in the mid two thousands was the emergence of widgets, 203 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:23,680 Speaker 1: which were largely possible because of APIs. Do you all 204 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: remember widgets? I mean, there's still technically a thing. It's 205 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: not like they went away, it's just they were really 206 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: being pushed really hard in the mid to late two 207 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: thousands on everything from early social media platforms to really 208 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: like I remember seeing them everywhere at cees. Right, you 209 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: would see a refrigerator and it would have widgets, or 210 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: a television and it had widgets. Everything had widgets on them, 211 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: and they were always these little icons that linked to 212 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: some sort of basic functionality. Right. It was usually very specific, 213 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: like it might be a weather report widget, so you 214 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: could get a very quick run down on what current 215 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: and predicted whether conditions are or we're going to be. 216 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 1: Or it might be a stock ticker, or it could 217 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 1: be a news headline ticker. You get the idea. It 218 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 1: was very specific and purpose built, and it was largely 219 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: thanks to APIs that it was possible. Right. The widgets 220 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: were typically tapping into some other platforms information and then 221 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: presenting that information to you in the form of the widget. 222 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 1: In two thousand and four, Flicker introduced It's API that 223 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: gave people the chance to embed their images that they 224 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: had been storing on Flicker on other platforms, including things 225 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: like web pages or social media. That was incredible, Right, 226 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: You could have Flicker act as your repository of images, 227 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 1: and then you could use the embed feature to share 228 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: those images on other platforms without having to upload the 229 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: same picture to all the different places you wanted. And 230 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: it really streamlined things, and it really pushed Flicker into 231 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: becoming a leader for online images for quite some time 232 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: because they really got ahead of things. In two thousand 233 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: and six, we had a couple of big APIs that emerged. 234 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: One came from Twitter, you know, Rest in Peace. I guess, 235 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: you know, we could refer to it as X now, 236 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: but it was Twitter back then and Facebook they both 237 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: introduced APIs in two thousand and six, and this gave 238 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: developers a chance to tap into the functionality of those 239 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,480 Speaker 1: platforms in new ways, and that's kind of what led 240 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: to third party Twitter feed readers, for example, like tweet deck. 241 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: In fact, tweet deck became so useful and popular that 242 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: Twitter actually acquired it and now it belongs to X 243 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: And honestly, I'm curious now what it's called, because I 244 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,240 Speaker 1: imagine it's not called tweet deck within X anymore since 245 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: they got rid of all the Twitter and tweet stuff 246 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: and I didn't look it up, so I don't know. 247 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: I no longer access tweet deck because it's behind a paywall. 248 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: But yeah, so developers were able to add in new 249 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: functions in these new services that tapped into these platforms, 250 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: and they were functions that you wouldn't find on the 251 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: vanilla version of the service. So, for example, let's talk 252 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: about Twitter and tweet Deck. With tweet Deck, a user 253 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: could create a single view that would incorporate multiple Twitter accounts, 254 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: separated by columns. So if you were someone like me, 255 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: you would have one column that would just show you 256 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 1: the incoming Twitter feed, like all the posts from the 257 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: folks that you follow. You could have a column that 258 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: shows your own personal Twitter messages as well as the 259 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: replies and quotes and that kind of stuff, so all 260 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: the engagement with your own Twitter messages. A third column 261 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: might show, say, your podcasts tweets and replies and stuff, 262 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: so it's the same thing as your own personal account, 263 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: but for your podcast account and so on. Like, you 264 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: could have multiple columns stretching across the screen, each one 265 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: focusing on something separate on Twitter, but all incorporated into 266 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: a single so you have a very easy way to 267 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: monitor this. This was really useful for social media managers, 268 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: right who might be monitoring multiple accounts. Let's say that 269 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,680 Speaker 1: you're a manager and you have several clients. You could 270 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: have a tweet deck set up with all the different 271 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: client columns there and in a one view you can 272 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 1: quickly see what's going on. It's such a useful suite 273 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: of features that Twitter would buy it, and now Elon 274 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: Musk has locked it behind a paywall. You have to 275 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: be a subscriber to access those features. So yeah, bumber. 276 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: It's why I don't really check tech Stuff's Twitter feed anymore, 277 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 1: because I had it incorporated into tweet Deck, and now 278 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:44,159 Speaker 1: I can't access tweet Deck because I'm not a subscriber, 279 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: So yeah, it's kind of lost. I could technically log 280 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: into x and tech Stuff's account and check it that way, 281 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: but y'all, it's just the mental energy needed for me 282 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:03,160 Speaker 1: to do that just doesn't exist in me anyway. Facebook's 283 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: API would let developers create all sorts of stuff that 284 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 1: could be built on top of Facebook, including things like 285 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: games and surveys and all that sort of stuff. This 286 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: is what eventually led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in fact, 287 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: because a developer created a survey tool that was paying 288 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: people to take the survey. But what the people didn't 289 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: know is that by agreeing to the survey, which was 290 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: all based integrated into Facebook using Facebook's API, then the 291 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: actual survey could gather information not just about the person 292 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 1: taking the survey in the first place, but all the 293 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 1: people they connected to through Facebook, like if their friends 294 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:46,359 Speaker 1: had public Facebook profiles, the app could then access all 295 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:49,439 Speaker 1: of that information as well. So that's what led to 296 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:54,120 Speaker 1: a big scandal, because it meant that the app developer 297 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,680 Speaker 1: was able to access information from people who never consented 298 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: to share that information in the first place. Facebook ultimately 299 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: changed its API to restrict apps so that they could 300 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: only request access to info that was relevant to whatever 301 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: the app was doing. So that way, if you were 302 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 1: to download or install an app that was like a 303 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: fun horoscope app, it wasn't for some reason getting access 304 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 1: to all your messages and stuff like that. That would 305 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: not be necessary for that particular app. But back in 306 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: the old days there were fewer restrictions, and we saw 307 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: what happened as a result of that. In two thousand 308 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,800 Speaker 1: and seven, we had another huge development that would have 309 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:42,200 Speaker 1: a big push on APIs, and that was the introduction 310 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,640 Speaker 1: of the iPhone. So I've said this before, the iPhone 311 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: was not the world's first smartphone. It had followed behind 312 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 1: lots of other smartphones. But before the iPhone, particularly here 313 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: in the United States, smartphones were not really a consumer product. 314 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,600 Speaker 1: They were sort of a prosumer product. It was the 315 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: kind of thing you would expect a business executive to own, 316 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: like a BlackBerry, something like those types of smartphones. But 317 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:13,360 Speaker 1: your average person didn't have a smartphone. That's not how 318 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: they accessed the web. If they were accessing the web 319 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: at all, they were doing so on a desktop or 320 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: laptop computer, maybe a web TV if they were one 321 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: of those folks, but otherwise you were accessing it on 322 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 1: like a computer. The iPhone would change that, right, and 323 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: that would mark the beginning of what would become a 324 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: massive shift in web development and web design, this migration 325 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: to the mobile web. As more people adopted smartphones, there 326 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: was this need to make it easier for those folks 327 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: to view and interact with online content. Right, Like, you 328 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: couldn't just present a web page to a smartphone the 329 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,719 Speaker 1: same way you would to a PC or laptop because 330 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:01,840 Speaker 1: the landscape was to different, right, the size of the 331 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: screen was different. It would make it very challenging to 332 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: read or interact with stuff that was on a web page. 333 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 1: You had to come about it in a different way. 334 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: But that also meant that there were new opportunities to 335 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: develop applications that were built on top of APIs that 336 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 1: could work specifically for smartphones, that could lay things out 337 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,239 Speaker 1: in a way that made it easier to interact with 338 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: the content that was on the web. So the mobile 339 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:40,879 Speaker 1: web really created a huge, huge change in the approach 340 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,160 Speaker 1: to APIs. And there was another one that was going 341 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,159 Speaker 1: on at the same time, and that was the shift 342 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: to the cloud. This was happening more in the background, 343 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: but you had more and more companies that were taking 344 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: advantage of cloud services in order to offload things that 345 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,199 Speaker 1: traditionally would have to all happen in house. Right, So 346 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,679 Speaker 1: in the old days, if you had a company that 347 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 1: had its own databases and computer systems and stuff, you 348 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 1: had to keep all of that stuff on premises. You 349 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 1: were responsible for keeping up with all the hardware, maintaining 350 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 1: the software, updating features, that sort of stuff. That's a 351 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: lot of work. But cloud services offloaded a lot of 352 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 1: that and really made it possible for software as a 353 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: service to emerge. I'll talk a little bit more about 354 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: that in just a second. We're going to take another 355 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: quick break and we'll be right back. So, yeah, I 356 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: mentioned before the break the emergence of cloud services. Now, 357 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 1: they did exist before the mid two thousands, but it 358 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: was right around that time where they started to really 359 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:55,959 Speaker 1: take off, and in fact, we could point to two 360 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: thousand and six as being a huge year for that 361 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: because that's again when Amazon would introduce some new features 362 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: in the cloud, like Amazon Compute and Amazon Storage services 363 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 1: that would become hugely influential in the space. In fact, 364 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: it made Amazon become the dominant player in the cloud 365 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 1: computing space in many ways. So now you had the 366 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: ability for businesses to tap into functionalities that otherwise they 367 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,120 Speaker 1: would have to develop all in house and it might 368 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,640 Speaker 1: take them years to do or it might be such 369 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: a big investment that they never would be able to 370 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: do it. Now, by becoming customers of these cloud computing companies, 371 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:45,640 Speaker 1: they could end up offloading the compute and storage stuff 372 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: to another company and get their developers to create new 373 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: applications that tapped into that ability and leverage the information 374 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: that the business was gathering. So it became possible to 375 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 1: create entirely new services. And this is really when we 376 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,879 Speaker 1: started to see software as a service explode as a 377 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,680 Speaker 1: business model, because developers could create a tool that would 378 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: meet the needs of their customers and then charge their customers, 379 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: maybe even setting up a subscription service for their software, 380 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: and that would turn an application into an ongoing revenue generator. 381 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: Like in the old days. Let's say you made a 382 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,120 Speaker 1: word processing program. You would sell that in stores and 383 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: you would get a portion of every sale that was made. 384 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: Right that was the old day of days of programming. 385 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: You'd make a program, people would buy a copy of 386 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,920 Speaker 1: the program, you hope that not too many people pirated 387 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,399 Speaker 1: your stuff, and you made money. Software as a service 388 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:47,439 Speaker 1: is totally different. You would make an application and you 389 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:51,679 Speaker 1: would sell access to that application, which would be based 390 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: in the cloud, built on APIs, tapping into all these 391 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: powerful other platforms, and your customers would pay you an 392 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: on going subscription fee to access that tool, and you 393 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,399 Speaker 1: would be able to make money off the same application 394 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: with the same customer over and over again, as opposed 395 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: to doing it that one time and that one point 396 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: of sale. So it really was a truly enormous change 397 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: in business. These days, APIs allow developers to make tons 398 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:23,600 Speaker 1: of new products and services by building on various foundations. Typically, 399 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 1: the developers are also paying for the use of APIs. 400 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: I mean it depends. The platform may have a tiered 401 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: list of API access with a free tier at the bottom, 402 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,119 Speaker 1: which might limit the features that developers can tap into, 403 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 1: or maybe a charge based upon how frequently the app 404 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 1: that the developers working on is going to reference the 405 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: underlying platform. So when we say reference, what we're talking 406 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 1: about is the app itself, the end app how frequently 407 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:03,399 Speaker 1: does it have to access the underlying platform. So if 408 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 1: you've built a Twitter based app, for example, or X, 409 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,880 Speaker 1: I guess we should say an X based app. How 410 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:14,640 Speaker 1: frequently is that app referencing X? How quick? How many 411 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: times does it have to pull information from or post 412 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:21,920 Speaker 1: information to the underlying platform? That would be a reference. 413 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: And one way that companies will charge developers is by 414 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,119 Speaker 1: adding up the number of times their apps are referencing 415 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: the underlying platform and saying, all right, you are putting 416 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: X demand on this platform. Shouldn't use X since that 417 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: is a platform. You're putting this specific amount of demand 418 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: upon our platform. In turn, we are going to charge 419 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:51,919 Speaker 1: you this amount because you are putting this load on 420 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:57,439 Speaker 1: us in order to power your application. So this has 421 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: actually led to some issues recently which I've td about 422 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: on this show, but you've probably also just heard out 423 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: and about which is that A couple of different companies, 424 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 1: specifically x formerly known as Twitter and Reddit, have alienated 425 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: some developers by changing up their API. So by doing 426 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,480 Speaker 1: things like getting rid of free tiers of service and 427 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: hiking up the cost of other tiers, these companies have 428 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: really upset a lot of developers and users. So these 429 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: companies are charging developers based on essentially how frequently the 430 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:38,159 Speaker 1: apps are referencing those underlying platforms. So Reddit is a 431 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,719 Speaker 1: great example. Reddit did this thing where they changed how 432 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: much they were charging developers for really popular apps. So 433 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 1: let's say that you've made a Reddit app, and really 434 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: this let's just say, this app is just a way 435 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: to browse and post to Reddit. Right, we're not reinventing 436 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: the wheel. We're not making anything spectacular. What we're making 437 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:03,160 Speaker 1: is a Reddit tool that lets you, you know, access subreddits, 438 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: read posts, and make posts. And that's it. But it's 439 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,199 Speaker 1: got a really good user interface, it's really well organized, 440 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: easy to use, its attractive. Uh, it's got you know, 441 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: things in places that make a lot of sense, and 442 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 1: a lot of users see it as being superior to 443 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: the official Reddit app, So they gravitate toward this third 444 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: party app that you have developed because they just like 445 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,680 Speaker 1: the way that you've approached this, but your app has 446 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: become really really popular and people are using it a lot. 447 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: It's not just that a ton of people have downloaded 448 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: and installed your app, it's that they're on the app 449 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: all the time, and so your app is referencing Reddit 450 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: a lot. Every single day. Reddit is tallying up those references, 451 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,960 Speaker 1: and then it sends you a bill, and that bill 452 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: is truly massive, like we're talking like millions of dollars 453 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: a year massive, And meanwhile, your app is not really 454 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: generating that much revived Like maybe you built this app 455 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: and maybe you are making some money off of it, 456 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: but it's nothing compared to the bill that's coming in. 457 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,479 Speaker 1: So you literally cannot afford to stay in business because 458 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: the bill you have to pay to Reddit is greater 459 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: than what you're making in revenue, so you have to 460 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: shut down. This is what happened over at Reddit. Some 461 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: very popular Reddit third party apps had to close up 462 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 1: shop because they couldn't afford to stay in business, and 463 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: a lot of the Reddit community got extremely upset about 464 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: this and felt that Reddit was pricing out third party 465 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 1: developers and trying to force people into using the actual 466 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: Reddit app, which a lot of people did not like, 467 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: and as a result, we saw lots of protests on Reddit. 468 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,200 Speaker 1: Subreddits went dark for a couple of days, some longer 469 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: than just a couple of days. Now there's this ugly 470 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: business of Reddit coming in and removing moderators of certain 471 00:29:55,120 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: subreddits who were refusing to give up on protesting this change, 472 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: and it's continuing to this day. It's still ugly. There 473 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: are still some subreddits that are feeling the effects of this. 474 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: The leadership at Reddit haven't really budged on the issue, 475 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: and meanwhile, the users are just as angry now as 476 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: they were earlier this summer when the changes were first 477 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: kind of coming to light. So APIs can be a big, 478 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 1: big deal, right. They can be a big revenue generator, 479 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: They can be a big way to build loyalty in 480 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 1: a customer base. But they can also be at the 481 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: heart of great controversy if a company decides to make 482 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: changes to its policies and at least in the eyes 483 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: of the public, disproportionately hurt the developers who are making 484 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: use of those APIs. So I hope this episode helps 485 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: clear up what APIs are, what they're for, and why 486 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,120 Speaker 1: they are important. They are the thing the gateway that 487 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: allows into developers to tap into the massive features that 488 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 1: are found in really important platforms and to create new 489 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: experiences for people that we have. If I were to 490 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: do an episode just on a list of apps that 491 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:19,880 Speaker 1: companies bought because the apps that were developed by third 492 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: parties were better than the stuff that was coming directly 493 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: out of the company itself, that would be an epic 494 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: episode because there are countless versions of that, and it 495 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: really just shows that, you know, innovation is not something 496 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 1: that you can just contain within four walls. Innovation comes 497 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: from entire communities and people who are only tangentially connected 498 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: to the actual underlying you know thing, and it's much 499 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 1: better to allow that kind of innovation to flourish because 500 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,960 Speaker 1: we get the best tools and best experiences that way. 501 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: And I don't think it really profits anyone for love 502 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,200 Speaker 1: that down too much. I mean, I get the need 503 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 1: to generate revenue to an extent, but I feel like 504 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: the extent we have seen has far outstretched creduelty, let's say. 505 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:19,040 Speaker 1: In other words, I don't necessarily believe it when Reddit 506 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: says that they have to put in these exorbitant fees 507 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: in order to pay their Internet bills. I don't know 508 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,760 Speaker 1: that that's really that. I'm sure there's some truth to that, 509 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 1: but I don't know that it necessitates charging a developer 510 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: millions of dollars a year because their app is so popular. 511 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,240 Speaker 1: I hope you are all well. I hope you enjoyed 512 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: this tech Stuff Tidbits episode, and I will talk to 513 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. 514 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 515 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:00,479 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite chops