25 days ago, I asked where Revver's API was, citing a post by Micki Krimmel. Well, she's responded and I found a post with more details on their blog discussing the newly-minted Revver API. I have to admit, this could be a pretty significant development (digg it). For one thing, Revver dot com is built upon their own API -- and by releasing the API, have made it possible for anyone to build their own custom white-labeled Revver site. As sumbry reports in the comments:
Using our API is easy. If you’re a PHP guy, download the PHP Whitelabel SDK. ... Go into your browser and punch in the URL to where you’ve unzipped the files and viola, you’ve got a brand new PHP site using our API. To start changing the look, just go into the skins directory and copy everything under default into a new directory name. Then go inside that new directory and start messing around w/all the css and image files to change the look.
(Emphasis mine.)Now if they built this on top of WordPress and its theming system, I would have been extremely impressed... but alas, one can't have everything. What's so interesting about this is that their business model and viability as a company is actually contingent upon the adoption of their API and the building out of niche white label sites... Micki puts it pretty clearly:
Our API is a way for web developers to create their own video-sharing communities using our technology. We like to call it a “video portal in a box.” And of course, Revver shares any ad revenue from uploaded and syndicated videos with the creators of the portal and with its community members. ... The release of the Revver API is central to our business model of wide syndication and free sharing of content. The goal is to build the network across the open web, disseminating Revver videos as widely as possible, always holding strong to our pro-artist ethos.
So, suffice it to say, this is pretty exciting. And an excellent model for others to follow or mirror. More and more we're going to see the equivalent of "indie data labels" offering up their wares in the form of socially networked harddrives while the big players continue to try to consolidate and drive everything to their web properties. I think that in the long term, the starfish model will prevail, and will continued work on services like Revver, who make it possible for individuals to start their own fully enabled website using remote data, we'll begin to see the promise of the loosely joined, socially networked revolution.
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