Pretty happy with how this story turned out. Steve Huffman should immediately step down and hand over the reins to someone even marginally more competent than he is.
Make sure to read all the way through to the “9to5Mac's Take" at the bottom.
"Reddit's CEO really wants you to know that he doesn't care about your feedback” https://9to5mac.com/2023/06/15/reddit-blackout-third-party-apps/
@ChanceHMiller This is such a great take.
It’s clear that he’s actually jealous of @christianselig . Think about it, he started Reddit in a dorm and sure it’s a massive success but he’s lost control of it. As CEO he’s beholden to investors that have made his app a bloated mess in the name of chasing profit.
Compare thag to Apollo which is simple: you pay for software you get software. You want extra feature pay monthly. Huff wishes his business was this simple.
@ChanceHMiller @anildash great piece. The answer was obvious all along. Charge users *directly* for Reddit ultra (or whatever it was, and I did have a subscription, I think $7/mo) and use this to unlock external api access. DONE
If I choose to pay the apollo ultra sub (which I paid, also) that’s on me to reward Christian.
Everyone gets their money.
@ChanceHMiller Great article and definitely underscores the feelings of many, many people.
We are not a minority of users who are upset, regardless of what Steve wants people to think.
And now, for a live look at Reddit HQ:
I also believe Huffman is fully not capable of doing his job properly, it really does sound (by his own admission!) that he was coasting for years, not making any business decisions about the API. I mean think about it - he’s creating a revenue stream, productizing the API, and the first thing he does is to antagonize and kill off the biggest customers!
@ChanceHMiller He says the API was never designed to support third-party apps. Reddit didn’t even have an app when the API launched and it was created specifically so that other people could make those apps and Reddit wouldn’t have to.
Their app is a third-party app that they bought. They didn't even build it themselves. They owe third-party developers everything.
@ChanceHMiller well said. This whole article is hot fire.
“It truly seems like Huffman woke up on a random Tuesday after a bad night’s sleep and decided on a whim to go nuclear and destroy the businesses of these third-party app developers. And every day since then, he’s woken up and dug his heels in, blocked out user feedback, and stuck to his guns. The commitment to the bit is marvelous, I must admit.”
@ChanceHMiller so Steve admitted that these apps supposedly cost reddit $10 million to allow them to operate, but somehow charging only one app double that cost ($20 million) is totally acceptable?
How does he intend to bring in money by forcing these apps to close. Instead of charging a reasonable price that third party apps are able to meet, they will now get zero dollars, less engagement, an upset community, and a huge loss of trust.
@ChanceHMiller it was never about letting these apps to be able to exist after the API changes. It was about forcing these apps to close without outright banning third party apps, which would cause an uproar which oops did anyways.
They want you to use their one and only sucky app where they can push their dumb nfts on you.
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