Thoughts on API Best Practices API Management and Infrastructure Blog

APIs for connected devices - the rush is on

My favorite Superbowl ad was for Vizio HDTV - it was great to see about a dozen leading Web APIs showcased right up there with Beyonce.

Yesterday Michael Zimablist posted on the New York Times Bits blog about how the NYT’s content must now support a growing range of devices like the Vizio, from web-connected printers to mobile apps to the new iPad.

And the Wall Street Journal's Martin Peers asks if the iPad’s e-book store is the new model for the television industry, citing how Netflix is streaming to over 50 different devices to build new audience. Blockbuster is pursuing a similar strategy to deliver it’s movies to “nearly every connected device.”

So the rush is on… just like a decade ago when companies scrambled for a ‘www’ address, companies today are rushing to create APIs - making their data and services available to execute a multi-channel, multi-device strategy.

Next: what are some considerations for your API in supporting an ever-expanding number of devices?

Paypal X: Open API as an Indirect Strategy

On Tuesday, the WSJ ran this article about the launch of Paypal X, Paypal’s developer program.

Great to see an API showcased as the heart of an industry leader's core business strategy - and called out as such in the top business newspaper. 

Paypal is executing an indirect strategy by opening their core services via APIs in order to have their payment capabilities more easily consumed in other applications and services.

Ten years ago, you could read articles like this about companies launching their websites to execute a *direct* business strategy… selling directly to customers.

Just as it was a decade ago, companies will slowly wake up and realize that they need to have an indirect business strategy online, either because they see the massive business opportunity ahead of them, or they see their competitors already executing an indirect strategy against them.

We see 'indirect online strategies' like PayPal and TransUnion Interactive as the beginning of an emerging API Economy.   A company without an API in 2009 is like a company without a website in 1997.