Steve Rubel just sent me a note to point at this post on the WeatherBug blog:
The main reason the Yahoo API story grabbed my attention is because I have always thought about creating a developers API for WeatherBug. There are so many applications that can be developed with WeatherBug data, but there is no way that we have enough time and resources to develop them all on our own. So, why not give developers out there a chance to develop their own applications using our data?
Cool. It's always refreshing to see someone else look at a project you helped with and realize that there are good reasons for them to go the same route.
Maybe it's time to nudge the Yahoo! Weather folks a bit too? :-)
Posted by jzawodn at March 08, 2005 03:22 AM
Don't hold your breath for anything out of Yahoo! Weather - their data is from The Weather Channel. TWC is completely oblivious to the power of data. They have amazing systems that collect, process, organize and distribute data (you should see their XML), but the only business model they are willing to consider is the "we give you free weather data, you link to the ad-supported content on weather.com". That's why you see the link boxes on Yahoo! and other TWC partners that try to drive traffic into Travel, Gardening and other areas of TWC that they can get decent CPMs on.
TWC actually turns away offers to buy their data feeds. Expose it and allow API development? Never. This is part of the reason why Weatherbug is eating their lunch.