Comments on: Ebay (finally) gets it

By: Adam Trachtenberg » Blog Archive » Opening up eBay one free API call at a time

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 21:16:04 +0000

[...] WeBreakStuff [...]

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:18:46 +0000

So this little birdie told me that real competition isn’t that far away. But that’s all matter for a different post in a couple of days (literally).

You do hit several nails I’ve been talking about in the head, though – most importantly the fact that people are unhappy about the way ebay works. The API is a patch but still, the point of the post is to point out that they are finally coming to terms with what should be done (even if they’re doing it way too late in the game).

By: William

William — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:05:10 +0000

An open api does not make a broken model better. Ebay works becuase they have no competitors. The internet is a medium that is about evoltion and revoltuion. Ebay knows that there is someone out there creating the application that will ulimatley comptere with them. An open api to a business model that many would flee from if there were an alternative is a finger in the dike approach to a modle that has tidal wave of problems. The oepn api is a temporary patch, an illusion to scare off the non rebels that will pay attention to the illusion.

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 15:59:29 +0000

Amazon is one of the best examples, like Flickr which I mentioned, of how an open API can get everyone building cool stuff. Even I have a couple of things based (at least partially) on amazon’s functionality. Plus, ECS is one of the most complete web services out there. They allow just about any kind of information to be accessed through their functions.

Re typo: Woops, fixed. Nice catch :-)

By: andr3

andr3 — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 13:15:44 +0000

I agree. Open webservices have certainly helped others spreading their brand all over the place.. Amazon, for example. And Fred, you have a typo in the Edgeio link. Thought i'd let you know. ;)