The backlash against Twitter over its addition of a native photo-sharing component is crap, and must cease immediately. No, I’m not a free-speech hating nutjob… but anyone who is still angry over the move by Twitter [ie TwitPic founder Noah Everett] is missing the big picture, and misdirecting their anger.
Here’s the bottom line: you don’t own Twitter. Twitter owns Twitter. Twitter was not created for you to start a business based on improving its service. Twitter is a business, and part of being a business is listening to your customers (or in this case, users) and improving your products and services based on their feedback. That’s Business 101. Sure, there’s a case to be made for outsourcing beyond your non-core expertise… but we’re talking web development here, not aerospace engineering.
If you’ve started a business based solely on building applications which run on another business’ service, you’re exposing your own business to a pretty serious strategic risk. There’s always a chance that the other business will decide to increase development in-house and make you obsolete in the process. And the other business is perfectly within its rights to do so, because… you don’t own them. Next time, do a little more thinking ahead and a lot less reactionary [insert appropriate expletive here].