API’s & Mashups
So this weeks lecture was about mashups and API’s, favourably API’s, and in the midst of it all we found some pretty cool little web sites which are based around public API’s. So basically API stands for Aplication Programming Interface and basically allows you to borrow someone elses bit of programming and use it in your own way, ie build on it or mash it with something else. This in turn allows for an unbelieveable kind of ‘creative flow’ because everyone is building on everyone elses ideas and skill sets.
These are sites with API’s which we covered int he lecture and in class which i thought were pretty cool …
wolfenflickr.com - so pointless but funny because of it
notifyr.com - a way of subscribing to flickr posts in a sort of rss to your email style
commuterfeed.com - a collection of blog posts about traffic conditions … not so good for canberra though
twittervision.com - a world wide view of who and where people are tweeting from
Basically API’s are an efficient way of people collaborating their knowledge to share data. Most social networking sites such as twitter, last.fm and flickr, have freely accessible API’s which give people the opportunity to create some amazing work. It is also productive to the company that provides the original API, as someone might make an amazing application that involves your site and your software, which would be very beneficial to the continued success of the business. Not only does it aid the supplier, but it also allows the users to manipulate the data and present it in ways useful to them. So we are not as heavily reliant on the original creator having an understanding of what we need.
API’s come on any scale, which is part of their beauty. For example some of the widgets I am running in this very blog require the use of API’s, on the other hand you have sites such as Addict-o-matic which has only API sourced content. This website is an excellent example fo how this data can be adapted and presened in a useful way. The link i have attached leads you to a search for comedian Demetri Martin, and displays results from all forms of media. This is an excellent example of networked media. Another frequent use of the API is Google Earth, which is incorporated into many sites.
The following video is an example of how easy it is to use the Google Maps API and create something in your own site.
The more that people use API’s, the greater the network of the company who supplied the original content. As their popularity grows, so too does the reach of these networks and the diversity of their connections. Because of the diverse adaptability of these API’s they have a huge market. Programmers, businesses and just simple internet users can take these once complicated functions and create an almost new product through teamwork. Not only does this market exist, but the demand is made very strong by the fact that it is cheap, accessible and fast.
Now this has had a large effect on the online community, but what effect could it have on me? Well clearly I have already found function for these APi’s in my blog to share my data and to create mini networks of my own.
Through API’s i have now made connections to sites such as last.fm, as well as to other users of this site who have similar music taste and so on. So by simply adding one API, i have enhanced the connectibility of my site exponentially. In terms of drawing traffic to my site API’s have proved an exeptional tool.
