What is wrong with using add_option with Multisite instead of add_blog_option in a plugin

I’m working on a new plugin but it’s my first to save which will save an option to the database.

Currently I’m using add_option and I assumed that
– activation would fail or
– the wrong value would be saved to the wp_blogID_options table

because I wasn’t using add_blog_option. All the posts / literature (Wrox, Apress, etc) I’ve read say I need to use to add_blog_option.

But all my testing (and inspecting the SQL table) are proved me wrong. So … What is wrong with using add_option instead of add_blog_option when making a plugin (that can be single install or multisite)?

To me … it seems that add_option (or even get_option) all work fine. I’m guessing the Settings API has some protection wrapper.

However … that would mean using add_blog_option (or get_blog_option) are only for ‘purists’.

add_blog_option ultimately calls add_option itself to add the option after switching the context to the supplied blog ID. the difference is that add_option will only work in the context of the current blog where add_blog_option lets you specify a blog ID that may be different than the current context.