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Offering an API, paid or unpaid, is not making an unending commitment to support it forever. If it was, businesses would simply not offer APIs. When someone of

Offering an API, paid or unpaid, is not making an unending commitment to support it forever. If it was, businesses would simply not offer APIs. When someone offers a product or service, they have to right to decide later on to not offer that service any more. That is simply the nature of any business arrangement where you are depending on an entity not under your control. Would the OP prefer that Google and other companies simply not offer APIs?

dhimes 15y ago
Nobody is arguing that they don't have the right, but there are social implications to doing so. People have the right to not like them because of it. You also have the right to not write thank-you cards when people do nice things for you, but those people have the right to react to your selfishness.
- tomkarlo 15y ago
  I can understand being unhappy because they've decided to deprecate a free API. I disagree with the rage of the OP. This was a free service and they're no longer going to offer it, and they're shutting it down in an orderly manner. That's not selfish. This is more like someone giving you a birthday present every year, and then when they fail to send you one, you write a nasty post about how greedy and selfish they are.
  - wolfhumble 15y ago
    Yes I agree, one should always be grateful! I think it is difficult to compare this to a birthday present you did not receive, though. It is more like they want you to throw away the birthday present you got last year; a present you were grateful for and that now plays an important part in your daily routine.
    - dhimes 15y ago
      Exactly. Would you accept the next gift? Especially when giving the gift isn't a selfless act-- it's only given if it benefits the giver. I don't use their APIs, and am not building a business on anybody else's platform, so it doesn't affect me personally. But if I were doing that, this would make me change my mind.

dhimes 15y ago

Nobody is arguing that they don't have the right, but there are social implications to doing so. People have the right to not like them because of it. You also have the right to not write thank-you cards when people do nice things for you, but those people have the right to react to your selfishness.

tomkarlo 15y ago
I can understand being unhappy because they've decided to deprecate a free API. I disagree with the rage of the OP. This was a free service and they're no longer going to offer it, and they're shutting it down in an orderly manner. That's not selfish. This is more like someone giving you a birthday present every year, and then when they fail to send you one, you write a nasty post about how greedy and selfish they are.
- wolfhumble 15y ago
  Yes I agree, one should always be grateful! I think it is difficult to compare this to a birthday present you did not receive, though. It is more like they want you to throw away the birthday present you got last year; a present you were grateful for and that now plays an important part in your daily routine.
  - dhimes 15y ago
    Exactly. Would you accept the next gift? Especially when giving the gift isn't a selfless act-- it's only given if it benefits the giver. I don't use their APIs, and am not building a business on anybody else's platform, so it doesn't affect me personally. But if I were doing that, this would make me change my mind.