Hey, I just realized that Basecamp has an API. And so, while I find that it’s missing some stuff that would help it fit into my workflow better, I can just add them in myself. Huh.
With that said, what are peoples’ thoughts about building a product/service based off of someone else’s product/service? A classic example of this is a Facebook application. Personally, I’ve always been critical because I can’t see the revenue model of building a Facebook app (I don’t think anyone is making any money with them).
I guess that the secondary concern is that if your business relies on somebody else’s business, then you give up some control. So for example, if I build a product that was a “one trick pony”, and simply extended on of 37signals’ products (for example), and then 37signals is bought by <insert backward-thinking-mega-corporation here> which then kills the product’s API — where does that leave me?
I’m just thinking out loud, of course. I guess that one of the problems of “openness” with Web 2.0 is that there’s no guarantees. If one company switches direction and decides to close up, it’s their prerogative. This is a highly “devil’s advocate” position, but I seem to remember reading through the Google search API terms of service at one point, and there is a line in there about “we reserve the right to turn the API off at any point, because we feel like it”.
