Integrating multiple apps & services

Thursday, October 4, 2007 by Dave Winer.

Fred Wilson: "When will people start building apps/services that sit on top of multiple APIs?" 

It's a good question, and the answer is -- we're already doing it. The services are now so reliable and flexible that you almost forget how complex the systems are.  

Let's look at a Twittergram scenario: 

1. Chris registers with the Twittergram site. That's App #1. 

2. She takes out her iPhone and opens the phone app. That's App #2. (Yes, the mobile device is also a computer, it's running an app, with an interface, it can dial a number and transmit audio. It's old fashioned, but it works great.) 

2. She calls BlogTalkRadio, 646-716-6000. That's app #3. Records a 30-second message. 

3. She hangs up. BlogTalkRadio calls the Twittergram app. App #1, again. 

4. Twittergram calls Amazon S3 to store the MP3. App #4. 

5. Twittergram calls TInyUrl to create a short URL for the MP3. That's App #5. 

5. Twittergram calls Twitter. That's App #6. 

So there's a simple application that uses six different apps/services. 

Another example, the Flickr-to-Twitter integration, also part of Twittergram. 

1. Randy registers with the Twittergram site. That's app #1.  

2. He goes to the park, sees a beautiful flower. Takes a picture with his iPhone. That's app #2. 

3. He mails the picture to Flickr. That's app #3. 

4. Twittergram is monitoring Randy's RSS 2.0 feed on Flickr. Some people might say this is another app, but let's be conservative. App #3, again. 

5. It notices a new picture, grabs the URL, calls TinyUrl. That's App #4. 

6. Grabs the title of the picture, appends the TInyUrl, sends it to Twitter. That's App #5. 

Another app that uses five different apps/services. 

We've been doing this stuff for a long time, all the way back to 1998, when XML-RPC first came online. It's always been about delivering functionality, quietly and reliably, to users.