I wish I'd saved it before hitting "send"..
I just penned an incredibly passionate letter to Mountain Project urging them to make all of their data available via a public API. For anybody who's wondering, an API is basically a standard interface that software developers can program against, effectively making the implementing platform extensible by anybody with a keyboard and an idea. It's what all the cool companies are doing these days. Google Maps has an API that allows you to create your own maps (see my previous post). Eventful offers an API for searching concerts and venues around the world. And there are countless other noteworthy examples, a lot of which can be found here
The point is, the times they are a changin'. It used to be the case that the general public was dependent upon whoever had the data for a decent site design, a clever presentation and, at the base of it all, the right to access the data freely. Nowadays, the most successful companies aren't the ones who keep a tight lid on this precious resource, they're the ones who give it away. Take Facebook as the prime example. Yeah the site itself is very well done; yes it sparked the social media revolution; heck, it even sparked some real revolutions! But it also made itself extensible, via a thoughtfully structured API, from day one. This is what allowed Mafia Wars and Farmville to exist. It's what allowed countless plug-ins to come and go, businesses to form and prosper, ideas to get out of someone's head and onto the web. It basically spawned a sister universe right next to, and intimately interconnected with, the Facebook cosmos itself. This is how culture happens. And culture is the world's most valuable currency.
Basically, I hope Mountain Project sees it the way I do. And I'm pretty sure they will. They're essentially a climbing data repository that's been fleshed out, revised and solidified by the climbing community itself. The free exchange of data is part of who they are. It allowed them to exist in the first place. I can't remember the exact phrasing I used (I promise I'll post the original email if I can get it from them) but I basically told them I'd pay them to let me work on this. That's how huge I think this is. And it makes sense right? It's at the inner-most cross section of all the things I care most about: rock climbing, cutting-edge programming, creating something beautiful that can grow organically into something even more complex and fascinating than I could ever possibly imagine with 100% of my brain. It's all there, waiting for someone to make it happen. And all I can do now is wait..
