Disqus - Latest Comments for jablanhttp://disqus.com/by/jablan/enSat, 09 Aug 2008 23:16:10 -0000Re: Cleaning out the office, here are the items that need to go&#8230;http://www.areyouageek.com/geek/2008/08/08/cleaning-out-the-office-here-are-the-items-that-need-to-go/#comment-1149173<p>What's left and for how much?</p>jablanSat, 09 Aug 2008 23:16:10 -0000Re: Guest post: Is There A Way Back From Free?http://colinwalker.me.uk/2008/07/19/guest-post-is-there-a-way-back-from-free/#comment-1025069<p>This is slightly apropos...</p><p>When eBay introduced their API way back in 2001 it was completely free.</p><p>As people started using it more and more, they realized that the organization couldn't sustain the costs of operating the API (hardware, software improvements, and personnel) while it remained free. So they began charging per API call. The initial cost was something like $3.00 US per 1,000 API calls.</p><p>For companies like mine (at the time) who were making money from these calls, it wasn't an issue. But the smaller, possibly more innovative users were squeezed out. That, to me, was unfortunate.</p><p>In any case, eBay waffled several times on charging and tried a few hybrid schemes. I think at this time, a majority of the API is free, but support costs money. And they have placed usage restrictions on certain calls.</p><p>So maybe Twitter can learn from eBay a little?</p>jablanMon, 28 Jul 2008 19:11:59 -0000Re: louisgray.com: Is There A Way Back From Free?http://blog.louisgray.com/2008/07/is-there-way-back-from-free.html#comment-1025031<p>This is slightly apropos...</p><p>When eBay introduced their API way back in 2001 it was completely free.</p><p>As people started using it more and more, they realized that the organization couldn't sustain the costs of operating the API (hardware, software improvements, and personnel) while it remained free. So they began charging per API call. The initial cost was something like $3.00 US per 1,000 API calls.</p><p>For companies like mine (at the time) who were making money from these calls, it wasn't an issue. But the smaller, possibly more innovative users were squeezed out. That, to me, was unfortunate.</p><p>In any case, eBay waffled several times on charging and tried a few hybrid schemes. I think at this time, a majority of the API is free, but support costs money. And they have placed usage restrictions on certain calls.</p><p>So maybe Twitter can learn from eBay a little?</p>jablanMon, 28 Jul 2008 19:07:00 -0000