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RE: Lotsa laughs

• From: Mark Birbeck <Mark.Birbeck@i...>
• To: xml-dev@i...
• Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 15:02:41 +0100

Steve Oldmeadow wrote:
> Sorry the quality of debate isn't up to your standards, 
> however, I'm afraid
> I can't take anything you say regarding Microsoft too seriously when:
> 1) Your e-mail domain is iedigital.net - surely a blatant 
> attempt to ride on
> Microsoft's coat tails;
> 2) One of the keywords on your web site is Microsoft but no 
> other vendors
> are listed.

Mmm ... sort of proves my point about the quality of debate. I notice
also that if you write your name upside down and take the first and last
letters you get MS ... ;-)

I can't help thinking a lot of this Microsoft discussion is a bit of
sour grapes. A few years ago a friend of mine decided to leave the UK
with the money he had made from an Internet venture here, and head for
Seattle. He was going to set up a service that allowed people to locate
sites by entering a few words into their web browser, rather than a full
URL. I said to him he was mad, because although I agreed that domain
naming was not very user-friendly, surely someone would sort it out
before he had the chance. Wouldn't the standards authorities or search
engine people or Netscape or Microsoft or someone - anyone else but a
little guy from the UK?

Well, off Keith went and set up Centraal, and established RealNames -
and they do seem to have got a lot of people to listen, including Alta
Vista and Network Solutions. Of course the story isn't over yet, but
they seem to be doing alright so far.

My point is that the Internet is still wide open, despite what everyone
says. As I said in my previous message, XML actually opens the whole
thing up even more, not less, since anyone can put a layer over
applications to hide their specific interface. And the moaning about MS
is getting a little bit boring now. If you have a great idea - do it.
And if in 6 months time MS are doing it instead - as I said before -
whose fault is that?

Best regards,

Mark Birbeck
Mark.Birbeck@i...

Intra Extra Digital Ltd.
http://www.iedigital.net/

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