Let me check my Case

Hello again from Cyberspace!

It's been a little while since my last post, and it's good to be back. This post will be dedicated to a case study regarding a business using API. API stands for 'Application Programming Interface', and, in a nutshell, lets you use functionality from a program you didn't write. This is more integrated than just typing something into Google Maps; it lets you get under the hood and incorporate the data into your website or mobile app.

Now that we're on the same page, lets look at a case study on USA Today from Mashery. This is a video study, and it takes about 20 min.

I'll save you the time to watch it, because it wasn't that great. Unless, of course, you enjoy bland presentations and poorly designed PowerPoints. The basic premise was the success that USA Today has had with their iPad API business. The presenter mentioned that they have been developing for platforms like the web and Android driven products as well.  One of the major benefits stated in the video was the speed of development. There is a movement currently toward speedy release of products, and API is a simple path to take you there. Like the API because it's so much faster for USA Today. He also discussed the business model for the API side of USA Today, which is totally advertising driven. I was surprised that a simple API release could be so lucrative.

Overall, I thought it was a mildly interesting display of a business successfully using API's to make money. Some of this seems like it's presented by geeks for geeks, but I think this is a major avenue for the future of the internet.


On an unrelated note, you can't embed videos in a Blogger blog. ;_;
I tried to imbed the video here for your viewing pleasure, but with no luck. If you know of a way, please post it in the comments!