Capability trumps everything else. If AWS sucked, or was merely a typical collection of services, then details about its API design might matter. Of course, A

Capability trumps everything else. If AWS sucked, or was merely a typical collection of services, then details about its API design might matter. Of course, AWS isn't typical – it's exceptional. Thus, its API could require the use of carrier pigeons and people would still be lining up to use it. That said, nicer APIs are nicer. As someone that has programmed directly to EC2's APIs, I so wished they were less crufty. I now use jclouds (via pallet), so I thankfully don't have to think about such things anymore.