[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Word processors and semantic content
Dear List, I enjoyed reading Elliotte's Future of XML article [1]. He made some interesting comments and sharp observations. But I disagree with one of the key statements in the article. I'd like to share my thoughts with the list and learn what you think. At one point Elliotte says: "Traditionally, you see two hard problems in training non-techies to write for the Web: teaching them semantic markup and showing them how to use FTP." And: "XML-enabled word processors like OpenOffice and Microsoft Word solve the first problem." I don't think the first problem is solved. Word processors aren't going to magically create semantic markup now that they can dump their internal models to XML files. To me the semantic authoring problem is the problem of having non technical people creating semantic (and structured) content that meets the requirements set by the use of that content. If you're creating a plain weblog, a word processor may offer sufficient semantics. But if you have requirements that impose a structure that is more complex than HTML with custom tags, for instance nested sections, or a required element order, the flexibility (which is perceived as usability) of a word processor does more harm than good IMHO. What are your thoughts on this? Disclaimer: As an XML editor vendor, I'm biased, especially since our core business is structured editing for non-techies. [1] http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/x-xml2008prevw.html Laurens van den Oever CEO Xopus Company laurens at xopus.com http://xopus.com +31 70 4452345 Waldorpstraat 17G 2521 CA Den Haag The Netherlands KvK 27308787 [Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] |
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