Improving someone else’s product

I spent a nontrivial amount of time writing code for uploading photos to Flickr from a web app of mine.  Flickr has apparently made it easier to upload pictures now, so my friend — the only user of my app — doesn’t upload pictures from my app anymore.

Lesson learned: By making your product a mere feature of someone else’s product, you’re giving up control over your own userbase.  (Related: Twitter and developers, a love story)

Better tools, better results

Get the best tool you can get.  A lousy keyboard causes more grammar and spelling errors.