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APIs were popular when technology was a tool to empower the user. But since then technology has mostly shifted to an ad delivery vehicle. APIs get in the way of

APIs were popular when technology was a tool to empower the user. But since then technology has mostly shifted to an ad delivery vehicle. APIs get in the way of that (by allowing its user to actually accomplish something besides “engaging”) so they got deprecated pretty quickly. I see the same thing happening with these MCPs. Currently they’re built to ride the AI bandwagon, but when people start using them for something actually useful and engagement starts going down they’ll cripple its capabilities to restore the balance.

Eldodi 1y ago
Don't you think we could be able to build a new economy based on micro-payments instead of ads this time? Most of the AI products are usage-based today
- daveidol 1y ago
  Could we? Yes. Would people use it? Probably not. That ship has sailed and now consumer expectations are pretty set on “free” for a lot of things.
  - bonoboTP 1y ago
    Not so sure about this. There's Patreon, there's superthanks on YouTube, streamer tips, etc. for smaller publishers and people in developed countries are increasingly fine with subscriptions to streaming services, Spotify and the like (though the proliferation of services may again drive people towards piracy). However this is probably still just a minority, and most people are less annoyed by ads than by having to pay however little. I'm not sure that the market correctly prices their eyeballs though, relative to those who are willing to pay micropayments. Intuitively, I'd guess the second type are probably more willing to buy things online in general. But probably the numbers and engagement metrics are prioritized more as KPIs for promotion etc.
- Nextgrid 1y ago
  You’d need to get rid of a huge chunk of the tech industry that relies on “engagement” to justify their job. I don’t expect them to just go away without a fight.
dkiebd 1y ago
APIs were deprecated after Cambridge Analytica.

Eldodi 1y ago

Don't you think we could be able to build a new economy based on micro-payments instead of ads this time? Most of the AI products are usage-based today

daveidol 1y ago
Could we? Yes. Would people use it? Probably not. That ship has sailed and now consumer expectations are pretty set on “free” for a lot of things.
- bonoboTP 1y ago
  Not so sure about this. There's Patreon, there's superthanks on YouTube, streamer tips, etc. for smaller publishers and people in developed countries are increasingly fine with subscriptions to streaming services, Spotify and the like (though the proliferation of services may again drive people towards piracy). However this is probably still just a minority, and most people are less annoyed by ads than by having to pay however little. I'm not sure that the market correctly prices their eyeballs though, relative to those who are willing to pay micropayments. Intuitively, I'd guess the second type are probably more willing to buy things online in general. But probably the numbers and engagement metrics are prioritized more as KPIs for promotion etc.
Nextgrid 1y ago
You’d need to get rid of a huge chunk of the tech industry that relies on “engagement” to justify their job. I don’t expect them to just go away without a fight.

dkiebd 1y ago

APIs were deprecated after Cambridge Analytica.