send them valentines: love & your API developer community

If you don't know what love has to do with API developers or your platform, take a gander at this classic Dave Winer developer rant from October 1994 on companies (Apple, Microsoft, HP, etc.) with platforms trying to woo developers.

(Acknowledgement: Dating metaphors in general are fraught with potential PC-violations. I get it. The message is still worth it.)

This DaveNet rant is a developer classic from 15 years ago -- the anger of a type uniquely inspired by unrequited love still comes through loud and clear today. "It's great when the platform you're developing for is taking good care of you, and it's equally lousy when the platform treats you like an antibody -- something to be defined, then isolated and defeated. Yuck." ...

"Developer relations is a mating game. The platform vendors are the guys. Developers are the girls. Send flowers. You always score big. Like wives and girlfriends, developers just want to be cared for. It's the little things that count. That's a big secret. You sent flowers last week? So what! You gotta send them every week, rain or shine. " ...

"Many thanks to Guy Kawasaki, Bill Campbell and Jean-Louis Gassee, who understood very well that a good developer is worth a hundred promiscuous girlfriends. In those days my mailbox overflowed with floral arrangements. And I cooked some great meals!"

So... one more time: Be an attentive lover to your valued API developers. They notice the little things when they are appreciated, and when you are just not that into them.

photo attribution: flickr/ideaconstructor