Ryan Sarver works at Twitter. He just posted a new developer roadmap, a few minutes ago. In it are all the things I was expecting:

1. If you make a Twitter client, you have a bit of time to get out of that business. If you were thinking about writing one, don't.

2. Twitter wants to control how tweets are presented everywhere. That means if you have an app that somehow displays them, you'd better read the new terms of service. You probably aren't allowed to do that anymore.

3. Analytics are OK, for now. Helping big companies manage their brands on Twitter, OK for now. Not clear what else.

4. No mention of Twitpic, Yfrog. Instagram and Foursquare are "value-added content and vertical experiences."

A personal note, I am so happy I cut the cord with Twitter long before they got to this point. I'm pretty far along in doing a new user interface for microblogging, one without many of Twitter's limits. Had I been trying these ideas out on their platform, today is the day I would have become officially illegal. But the writing was already on the wall, clearly.

The Internet remains the best place to develop because it is the Platform With No Platform Vendor. Every generation of developers learns this for themselves. When I wrote it Apple hadn't been reborn. I was thinking about the messes that Sun, Microsoft and Netscape were making. And finally getting myself out of the mess Apple made before Apple was making its new mess.

Facebook may have a huge installed base, but it's dead to me. I can't get there. The platform vendor is too active. Same with Twitter, same with Apple. Give me a void, something I can develop for, where I can follow the idea where ever it leads. Maybe there are only a few thousand users. Maybe only a few million. Hey, you can't be friends with everyone.

PS: You have to wonder why Twitter chose the weekend of SXSW to drop this bomb. Were they aware that large numbers of influential Twitter users were getting together in Austin to drink beer, eat BBQ and mumble disgruntlement about Twitter? Now they have something to bumble about!

PPS: Bad timing for Apple's rollout of the iPad 2. They were hoping to dominate the news with hordes of groping fanbois camped on the sidewalk outside Apple stores. Instead there's some real news (no not Twitter, Japan).

 3/11/2011; 3:44:43 PM.   .

I'm sure there's a feed on each of the major news sites tying together all their quake coverage. I just wish I knew where they were.

When there's a huge story literally breaking over the planet (and maybe breaking the planet), we need the most accelerated access to news. Not to have to go hunting for it. We have the technology and standards to do it, totally mature, we just have to use it.

If your news organization has a feed that ties together your quake coverage, send me a pointer. I will of course publish the OPML subscription list and keep it current, as I did with the WikiLeaks OPML when it was the breaking mega-story.

 3/11/2011; 6:15:04 AM.   .