I’ve noticed similar recently with many paid book search apis out there and was also grossed out.
You’re not paying for a data source at all, you’re paying for an expensive embedded application.
I don’t see how it’s remotely reasonable. The person managing this api has stricter protections on this data (though they’re not even his podcasts) than we have on our personal data.
You're not paying for the data, you're paying for the service.
This is common. Companies that provide the data for offline use tend to have a separate licensing and subscription fee structure. Companies that provide the API tend to forbid offline caching/storage of the data.
The service, though, is 'convenient access to the data [which is already out there]'. And once I've used it, I don't need it 100/sec just because that's how frequently people are using my downstream service to do something with some popular 'trending' podcast; I'm perfectly happy (and it would be a good practice to be!) caching it for some period, until I need the service again to conveniently see if the data that's already out there has changed.
> The service, though, is 'convenient access to the data [which is already out there]'.
The service is whatever is described in the contract you agree to when you purchase it.
If you don't like the terms of the contract, you can always try to negotiate an alternate agreement. Or you can choose not to purchase the service.
The seller isn't obligated to provide their services on your terms, just as you're not obligated to purchase the seller's services on their terms if you don't agree to them.
A single snapshot of an ever-changing database is the culmination of potentially years of research and payroll and system development that API consumers precisely didn't and don't want to do, that's what gives the dataset and thus API value.
The price that captures that value would have to be much higher in the model where you only need to access the database at some interval (let's say weekly), and that's not necessarily any more palatable.
I commend the service provider for aggregating the data and making a business - hope that person is able to make a living from it.
It’s an interesting service that I would be very interested in using in providing a service of my own. And I’d be more than happy to pay for it, but those terms are a non-starter, at least for me.
The year is 2040. There’s no running water. Grocery stores mandate that all purchased liquids must be consumed prior to leaving the premises.
The year is 2060. “Stores” begin synthetically seeding human life in closed environments in according with growth hacking best practices. Product market fit declared a solved problem.
You’re not paying for a data source at all, you’re paying for an expensive embedded application.
I don’t see how it’s remotely reasonable. The person managing this api has stricter protections on this data (though they’re not even his podcasts) than we have on our personal data.