He probably didn't see it coming because they told him to his face they wouldn't "ruin the API" as recently as January. That was in a call he had with folks at Reddit.
Fast forward only a few months and they are now:
1. Charging exorbitant prices for the API.
2. Removing the ability for apps to display ads to free users.
3. Removing NSFW subreddits and content from the API.
Said in another way, they are:
1. Decreasing app revenue (no ads).
2. Increasing app expenses (paid API).
3. Making third party apps worse (removing NSFW from the API).
That's...about as close to "ruining the API" as you can get.
Fast forward only a few months and they are now:
1. Charging exorbitant prices for the API. 2. Removing the ability for apps to display ads to free users. 3. Removing NSFW subreddits and content from the API.
Said in another way, they are:
1. Decreasing app revenue (no ads). 2. Increasing app expenses (paid API). 3. Making third party apps worse (removing NSFW from the API).
That's...about as close to "ruining the API" as you can get.