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I had a client who wanted to build his business on top of our business via scripting our administrative back end - basically he wanted to be a value added resel

by dano 3y ago

I had a client who wanted to build his business on top of our business via scripting our administrative back end - basically he wanted to be a value added reseller. He'd get angry when we modified our admin console. We offered him API access for a fee, but any fee was too much for his business model. It was quite frustrating and eventually we had to ignore his pleas for UI stability over years of time. All the while he could have had access to the API for less than he was paying the person to script our admin console. This was circa 2007, so perhaps API programmers just weren't the thing back in the day.

bombcar 3y ago
When you have a hammer every problem is a nail. It happens quite a bit - people solve the problem they have with what they know.
- cyanydeez 3y ago
  Wlitlhl the way the internet is headed, I'm expecting an auto API generator to plug the API holes twitter and reddit are planning. Webscraping will rise again.
  - ljm 3y ago
    As always, everything in software is cyclical
nextaccountic 3y ago
> We offered him API access for a fee, but any fee was too much for his business model. At this point, wasn't banning him in the cards?
- pc86 3y ago
  Presumably he was still paying for the service, just not for API access.
otagekki 3y ago
I think this is unfortunately what is going happen in the next few years as more tech companies will price their APIs out of reach of small businesses :/