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Fred Wilson's Principles of Successful Web Apps

77 points by GVRV 17y ago

JarekS 17y ago
I think that "Software is Media" is one of the most important things we all should have in mind. Company should fight for something, polarize audience and never ever try to be everything for everybody. We don't see that too much in the marketplace.
- Hoff 17y ago
  Applications in the Apple AppStore look and work like media. Media that can use in-app purchase to acquire more media, too.
alexro 17y ago
I think Fred has become too focused on the specifics of his recent companies. Is Google programmable? Is Gmail a media and also programmable? Is Amazon playful? That applies even more to the myriad of smaller companies which are successful anyways. Advice #11 : be cautious of advice.
- dabent 17y ago
  Maybe you don't have to hit all the numbers to make things work. I see Google as hitting numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and maybe even 10. Actually, Google has APIs, so it is programmable. Just thing of the useful or playful mashups people have created with the maps API. Amazon might not be "playful" on it's own, but comments like the first one one this item add to the fun: http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Three-Wolf-Short-Sleeve/dp/B002HJ377A http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Three-Wolf-Short-Sleeve/dp/B0... I look at Etsy as an example of a site that tries to hit all 10. Their API isn't read/write yet, so maybe it isn't fully programmable.
  - alexro 17y ago
    I don't see how Google Search and Gmail (the 2 core products) are playful. The search is also non-personal, non-programmable, non-restful and to most people it's just the search that works. Gmail is non-clean.
brlewis 17y ago
"We really think if it’s a read-only API, it might as well be RSS." Corollary: If RSS is sufficient for your read-only API, stick with RSS. Read-write APIs are useful, but proceed with caution. http://friendfeed.com/gabe/82458dfe/api-design-is-like-sex-make-one-mistake-and http://friendfeed.com/gabe/82458dfe/api-design-is-like-sex-m... So far for OurDoings I've only implemented 3rd-party read/write APIs, allowing integration with the Picasa desktop client, ping.fm, and hellotxt. When Pixelpipe approached me about an API I just had them use the ping.fm "custom URL" API I had implemented. But eventually I'll need to make some serious design decisions and create an API that gives read-write access to unique features.
nathanwdavis 17y ago
It's ironic that the first thing I did was bookmark this page on delicious because I couldn't read it all right away. As I'm finishing it up later on I notice he's a big fan of delicious.

77 points by GVRV 17y ago

I think that "Software is Media" is one of the most important things we all should have in mind. Company should fight for something, polarize audience and never ever try to be everything for everybody. We don't see that too much in the marketplace.

Hoff 17y ago
Applications in the Apple AppStore look and work like media. Media that can use in-app purchase to acquire more media, too.

alexro 17y ago

I think Fred has become too focused on the specifics of his recent companies. Is Google programmable? Is Gmail a media and also programmable? Is Amazon playful? That applies even more to the myriad of smaller companies which are successful anyways. Advice #11 : be cautious of advice.

dabent 17y ago
Maybe you don't have to hit all the numbers to make things work. I see Google as hitting numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and maybe even 10. Actually, Google has APIs, so it is programmable. Just thing of the useful or playful mashups people have created with the maps API. Amazon might not be "playful" on it's own, but comments like the first one one this item add to the fun: http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Three-Wolf-Short-Sleeve/dp/B002HJ377A http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Three-Wolf-Short-Sleeve/dp/B0... I look at Etsy as an example of a site that tries to hit all 10. Their API isn't read/write yet, so maybe it isn't fully programmable.
- alexro 17y ago
  I don't see how Google Search and Gmail (the 2 core products) are playful. The search is also non-personal, non-programmable, non-restful and to most people it's just the search that works. Gmail is non-clean.

brlewis 17y ago

"We really think if it’s a read-only API, it might as well be RSS." Corollary: If RSS is sufficient for your read-only API, stick with RSS. Read-write APIs are useful, but proceed with caution. http://friendfeed.com/gabe/82458dfe/api-design-is-like-sex-make-one-mistake-and http://friendfeed.com/gabe/82458dfe/api-design-is-like-sex-m... So far for OurDoings I've only implemented 3rd-party read/write APIs, allowing integration with the Picasa desktop client, ping.fm, and hellotxt. When Pixelpipe approached me about an API I just had them use the ping.fm "custom URL" API I had implemented. But eventually I'll need to make some serious design decisions and create an API that gives read-write access to unique features.

nathanwdavis 17y ago

It's ironic that the first thing I did was bookmark this page on delicious because I couldn't read it all right away. As I'm finishing it up later on I notice he's a big fan of delicious.