Neat article, but I was more taken aback by the design of the blog. I love the integration between the text and the code sample on the right. Gauge is broken on Safari however. :(
The reactions here are disappointing. I can understand the frustration of their Android and API users, but the idea that the developers owe anyone an apology for choosing to take the opportunity to cash in on their hard work and hopefully get a chance to take a breath from the stress of running your own small business is incredulous. I’m incredibly happy for the team.
This type of thing hurts the whole software industry by making it look like we’re all a bunch of fly by night shysters out to make a quick buck, and we’ll throw users under the bus as soon as we see dollar signs.
It acts to devalue software in general because nobody wants to buy something that’s likely to be shutdown arbitrarily.
To be fair, the problem is with the companies doing the acquiring, and I can understand why smaller companies sell out. In this case, Apple has resources to develop their own weather app, distribute with iOS, and crush them out of existance. It wouldn’t even be the first time, and I’m sure Dark Sky knows that.
I can agree with the sentiment. I too would like to see more viable independent software companies.
When I read these opinions though, I can’t help but feel that the difficulty of making ends meet, not to mention a comfortable living, as one of these small developers is being overlooked. Selling out here might be contributing to the problem, but it also might be the only way in this ecosystem for these people to get a break.
I wonder, how many of the people making judgmental comments have actually had a go at building a small independent software company themselves, or even worked for one for that matter?
Also, Dark Sky has been around since 2011, 9 years of work is hardly a run at making “a quick buck”.
They definitely owe an apology, if not more than that. If you want Android users to be happy for them, they should display empathy for the users they are leaving behind. I can understand that the company would be happy to get paid off, but the idea that users owe the company gratitude for abandoning them is ridiculous.
These “our incredible journey” posts are almost always tone deaf, and this one is no exception.
I don’t think the users owe them gratitude any more than they owe anyone an apology. They worked to provide a service for people and have now decided to do something different with their lives. The idea that paying a 3$ a year subscription entitles you to an apology if the people behind it decide to change course is preposterous.
API users are not just paying $3 a year. They’re also paying with their time. They had to learn/integrate the API, and now that it’s deprecated, they will have to unlearn/remove the API integrations. Probably worth a few thousand in person-hours.
It’s nobodys fault but theirs that they decided that $3/yr was a good idea for a premium subscription. I would have paid at least that much per month for the service, personally.
Nice post, concise and useful. Been using Python for a while, found both good reminders and a few points I had not considered before. Thanks.
Neat article, but I was more taken aback by the design of the blog. I love the integration between the text and the code sample on the right. Gauge is broken on Safari however. :(
thanks for the flag! There’s something tricksy with SVG transforms on Safari that I need to figure out
The reactions here are disappointing. I can understand the frustration of their Android and API users, but the idea that the developers owe anyone an apology for choosing to take the opportunity to cash in on their hard work and hopefully get a chance to take a breath from the stress of running your own small business is incredulous. I’m incredibly happy for the team.
I disagree.
This type of thing hurts the whole software industry by making it look like we’re all a bunch of fly by night shysters out to make a quick buck, and we’ll throw users under the bus as soon as we see dollar signs.
It acts to devalue software in general because nobody wants to buy something that’s likely to be shutdown arbitrarily.
To be fair, the problem is with the companies doing the acquiring, and I can understand why smaller companies sell out. In this case, Apple has resources to develop their own weather app, distribute with iOS, and crush them out of existance. It wouldn’t even be the first time, and I’m sure Dark Sky knows that.
I can agree with the sentiment. I too would like to see more viable independent software companies.
When I read these opinions though, I can’t help but feel that the difficulty of making ends meet, not to mention a comfortable living, as one of these small developers is being overlooked. Selling out here might be contributing to the problem, but it also might be the only way in this ecosystem for these people to get a break.
I wonder, how many of the people making judgmental comments have actually had a go at building a small independent software company themselves, or even worked for one for that matter?
Also, Dark Sky has been around since 2011, 9 years of work is hardly a run at making “a quick buck”.
Many of the users they’re shutting out are paying users so yes, they owe an apology to them.
They definitely owe an apology, if not more than that. If you want Android users to be happy for them, they should display empathy for the users they are leaving behind. I can understand that the company would be happy to get paid off, but the idea that users owe the company gratitude for abandoning them is ridiculous.
These “our incredible journey” posts are almost always tone deaf, and this one is no exception.
I don’t think the users owe them gratitude any more than they owe anyone an apology. They worked to provide a service for people and have now decided to do something different with their lives. The idea that paying a 3$ a year subscription entitles you to an apology if the people behind it decide to change course is preposterous.
I agree with your general sentiment, but….
API users are not just paying $3 a year. They’re also paying with their time. They had to learn/integrate the API, and now that it’s deprecated, they will have to unlearn/remove the API integrations. Probably worth a few thousand in person-hours.
Assuming “a few thousand” == 3000, you’re saying it will take an entire 6 person dev team a whole quarter to move off this API?
Huh? $3,000 / ($150/hr) = 20 hr.
Edit: Oh. I see what you mean. I’m dumb. 😅
What is the draw of their API versus NOAA’s? I don’t know the domain well so I’m curious.
It’s nobodys fault but theirs that they decided that $3/yr was a good idea for a premium subscription. I would have paid at least that much per month for the service, personally.