Hi Michael,
I don't understand the problem, the current API is documented and the sources for all clients are free and open.
And it should be a decision of the people who pay for the server if an interface/API is appropriate which causes more traffic due to a larger overhead.
I'm currently not that deeply involved that I can estimate wether the API is appropriate or not. But I'm building APIs for some years now and I know that building APIs can be quite a hard job to do. So you have my full respect for what have been done so far!
Recently some guys from Freifunk (Johannes, Tarek, me) got interested in this project and are willing to contribute. Maybe we can look forward and take some time to listen to their ideas on how this project can be improved.
But before looking into coding details we should take a look at the project management. Especially if we talk about money and code contributions. The worst thing that can happen is, that someone gets upset because development gets a new drive.
I'll open a new thread for this topic so this thread can be used for discussion about the new API.
Best whishes Clemens