The API-as-a-Marketplace • Hacker News Board

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#21

Post by alberth » Thu, May 28, 2020, 7:01 PM UTC

I was tracking with the article until this except.

>>”But unlike Stripe, Twilio, and Postmates, the supply of an API-as-a-marketplace is not necessarily a commodity. That is, should they choose to, developers and businesses (or even their end users) can pick their suppliers based on whatever requirements they have. ”

I’m confused. Isn’t the definition of being able to swap out one vendor for another and receive the same service back in return ... the exact definition of a “commodity”?

And is he suggesting that these other API company’s (stripe, twilio,postmates) are NOTa commodify?

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#22

Post by dajohnson89 » Thu, May 28, 2020, 7:13 PM UTC

carterklein13 wrote: post #20

What I'm curious is why there's not yet a marketplace for consumer-generated data. Thinking things like wearables. Is it that these wearables are too miserly over their data, or are there other considerations that make this more difficult than some of the more common ones I've seen such as e-commerce and supply chain. I see examples for medical data in this thread, which is notoriously slow to "open," so I'm curious…

Surely privacy is a huge concern, especially for something like wearables.

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#23

Post by carterklein13 » Thu, May 28, 2020, 7:34 PM UTC

dajohnson89 wrote: post #22

carterklein13 wrote: post #20

What I'm curious is why there's not yet a marketplace for consumer-generated data. Thinking things like wearables. Is it that these wearables are too miserly over their data, or are there other considerations that make this more difficult than some of the more common ones I've seen such as e-commerce and supply chain. I see examples for medical data in this thread, which is notoriously slow to "open," so I'm curious…

Surely privacy is a huge concern, especially for something like wearables.

I think I may be missing the point of what the article is getting at with API-as-a-marketplace versus traditional API marketplaces.

I think even after reading the article and looking at some of the examples, I'm confused at what's being talked about here, and some of the additional concerns that would arise with something like wearbles.

It seems like API-as-a-marketplace are providing services where an Instagram-like company could add the "Instagram shops" section right into their application as opposed to have to make a separate shop and checkout process?

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#24

Post by oarsinsync » Thu, May 28, 2020, 7:37 PM UTC

zemvpferreira wrote: post #17

verdverm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, blockchain still has yet to address the rules of society and the expectation to be able to force financial transactions by court order

I'm not sold on the ledger-as-single-source-of-truth notion either. Blockchain is a solid technological choice for critical transactions that need to stand up to independent verification, but it's certainly not the only one. If it makes enough of a difference to turn these markets digital faster, I'm happy. What I like is this notion that there are still huge, opaque markets that are extremely costly to take part in.…

> We pay inefficiency and arbitrage taxes on everything we produce and consume. How many cents out of a dollar I spend on bread go to someone whose only value in the process is manning a phone or providing working capital? The sooner those two go away, the better.

Those inefficiency and arbitrage taxes will then be replaced with social security / ubi taxes, as fewer people are needed in the workforce.

Which is probably a good thing, but don't think that you're going to see any substantial savings in the cost of your goods. If it doesn't go in taxation (because it's a unique thing to a few companies), it'll just be additional profit capture for those at the top.

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#25

Post by bwertz » Thu, May 28, 2020, 7:48 PM UTC

alberth wrote: post #21

I was tracking with the article until this except. >>” But unlike Stripe, Twilio, and Postmates, the supply of an API-as-a-marketplace is not necessarily a commodity. That is, should they choose to, developers and businesses (or even their end users) can pick their suppliers based on whatever requirements they have. ” I’m confused. Isn’t the definition of being able to swap out one vendor for another and receive the…

I think you're saying the same thing.

Stripe, Twillio, etc. provide access to commodities.

The "API as a marketplace" concept postulates that there are situations in which the supply is differentiated and you care about with which supplier you get connected.

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#26

Post by bwertz » Thu, May 28, 2020, 7:51 PM UTC

carterklein13 wrote: post #20

What I'm curious is why there's not yet a marketplace for consumer-generated data. Thinking things like wearables. Is it that these wearables are too miserly over their data, or are there other considerations that make this more difficult than some of the more common ones I've seen such as e-commerce and supply chain. I see examples for medical data in this thread, which is notoriously slow to "open," so I'm curious…

Humanapi (https://www.humanapi.co/) is building something in this regard

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#27

Post by zemvpferreira » Thu, May 28, 2020, 9:13 PM UTC

oarsinsync wrote: post #24

zemvpferreira wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sold on the ledger-as-single-source-of-truth notion either. Blockchain is a solid technological choice for critical transactions that need to stand up to independent verification, but it's certainly not the only one. If it makes enough of a difference to turn these markets digital faster, I'm happy. What I like is this notion that there are still huge, opaque markets that are extremely costly to take part in.…

> We pay inefficiency and arbitrage taxes on everything we produce and consume. How many cents out of a dollar I spend on bread go to someone whose only value in the process is manning a phone or providing working capital? The sooner those two go away, the better. Those inefficiency and arbitrage taxes will then be replaced with social security / ubi taxes, as fewer people are needed in the workforce. Which is probab…

I’m very ok with that idea, personally. Let’s unemploy as many people as possible and pay them to be happy instead.

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#28

Post by JacobDotVI » Thu, May 28, 2020, 9:30 PM UTC

carterklein13 wrote: post #20

What I'm curious is why there's not yet a marketplace for consumer-generated data. Thinking things like wearables. Is it that these wearables are too miserly over their data, or are there other considerations that make this more difficult than some of the more common ones I've seen such as e-commerce and supply chain. I see examples for medical data in this thread, which is notoriously slow to "open," so I'm curious…

I would argue that ad auctions on Google and Facebook are a form of marketplaces for consumer-generated data.

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#29

Post by greatNespresso » Thu, May 28, 2020, 9:38 PM UTC

rhenzabel wrote: post #16

We've been working on something in this space called Violet: https://violet.io . At the core we're a headless API that connects merchants looking to sell their products natively in new channels with the developers ( https://violet.dev ) who are building those channels.

I am really sorry, but looking at your website, I did not understand what's the purpose of your company. Reading up your comment, it does not make much more sense to me. Are you somehow like snipcart?

Re: The API-as-a-Marketplace

#30

Post by orasis » Thu, May 28, 2020, 9:47 PM UTC

Having run some products through these types of marketplaces I am not optimistic.

Marketplaces only work if they deliver customers, and I’ve simply seen almost no volume of customers searching within these systems.