Amazon revokes Lendle’s API access is a regularly updating summary of an Amazon spat with one of its “who’d have thought of that” ecosystem companies.
Amazon allows you to lend Kindle books to other Kindle owners for 14 days. During that time you can’t read it on your Kindle. Lendle helped connect people who had books they were happy to lend with people who wanted to borrow. Neat idea.
Amazon, in what sounds like an out-of-the blue move, revoked Lendle’s access to Amazon’s API (a behind the scenes, computer-to-computer way of accessing Amazon content and services). This essentially shut Lendle down.
A day later, after some outcry and a slight adjustment to Lendle’s service and the access is restored.
Now this is better than Twitter, but still leaves a sour taste in the mouth. It also makes it clear that building applications that depend on a BigCo API is no longer sensible.