API Economist: I heard this quote, “Not having an API today is like not having a web site circa mid-90s.” Do you agree or disagree with this and why?

Byron Sebastian: No, I don't agree with it, I think it is a small minded way of thinking about the Internet and our industry.

APIs are a worthy technique used by developers to exchange data and data processing tasks. Right now APIs appear to be a critical part of the information revolution, one of the most important transformations in the history of civilization.

So I wouldn't compare APIs to building websites in the 90s, I'd compare APIs to the wheel, or the library, or mass production. It's both as big as those concepts and, once in your consciousness, as obvious (as "duh") as them.

Originally interviewed October 11, 2012

API Economist: You have quite an interesting background. I love the combination of the artistic and technical. In many ways, you are the archetype of the API economist. Tell us a little bit about yourself, including your stint at the startup, Boo.com.

Cameron Hickey: I went to Bard College back in the '90s. I majored in Photography, but I always had an interest in both political science and economics. While I was there, I taught myself to program and build web apps and I actually left halfway through my senior year. I started working in New York City, first freelance, and then at one small Internet company and then I got a job at Boo.com. I spent about a year and a half working at Boo.com based in the New York office. I worked on a variety of projects, but primarily helping build and launch the first and second versions of that ill-fated website.

The API Economist

The API Economist

Posts

The API Economist

Cameron Hickey on how to win a hackathon and discover art in API development

The API Economist