Why Amazon and Google Web Services Matter

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Tim O'Reilly
Nov. 21, 2002 06:16 AM
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URL: http://news.com.com/2009-1017-966099.html...

Microsoft made a much-ballyhooed announcement of a consumer Web services plan dubbed .Net My Services, but confusion from business partners and complaints from privacy advocates thwarted the ambitious program last year. Now, however, the idea is getting new life through recent initiatives, such as those by Google and Amazon, whose grassroots approach to Web services stand in marked contrast to Microsoft’s top-down strategy.

The article also highlights the parallels between what Google and Amazon are doing and some of the deep trends that are driving the open source movement:

"Individuals outside the company, the customers, gain even more power than they already had," said Erik Benson, a developer who has created some tools using both the Google and Amazon APIs. "Now, not only do we have all the feedback mechanisms created by the Internet, but we can also physically create the features that we want a company to make, without having to wait for a business case, a lengthy development process, or anything else other than our own learning curve."

And that, the companies hope, will translate to more business in the long run--for little cost right now.

"In a way, Amazon and Google are outsourcing their user interface development, with the developers working for free," said Alex Shapiro, chief technology officer of TouchGraph, a developer of Web applications. "In exchange for letting others easily access their data, these companies perpetuate their brand, spread good vibrations through the developer community, and allow others to experiment with all kinds of innovative solutions without taking on any risk. In turn, the developer gets to act as the portal to Google's/Amazon's data, thereby benefiting through the advertisement for whatever tangential services that they offer."

Tim O'Reilly is the founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, Inc., thought by many to be the best computer book publisher in the world, and an activist for open standards. O'Reilly Media also publishes online through the O'Reilly Network and hosts conferences on technology topics, including the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, and the Web 2.0 Conference. Tim's blog, the O'Reilly Radar "watches the alpha geeks" to determine emerging technology trends, and serves as a platform for advocacy about issues of importance to the technical community. For everything Tim, see tim.oreilly.com.

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