Is "Hand Authoring" XML still a critical use case ?

A lot of talk recently about making XML simpler (I agree on many!) but along with that is talk about the effects (good and bad) on Hand Authored XML.

Is Hand Authored XML really an important issue nowadays ?

I argue that lack of good Apps is the problem really.

Take an example.   Does ANYONE  "Hand Author" Word or PDF documents ?   I think not.

Yet does anyone complain about how hard it is to author Word or PDF Documents ?  All I hear from authors is how they DON’T want to author XML,

they want Word.   The actual file format is irrelevant to most document authors (except us geeks).

The user experience in the application is what authors see.

So I ask, "Is Hand Authoring XML an important design criteria?" …

I suggestion "No", but rather "Availability of good Authoring Tools" is what's critical.

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David A. Lee

dlee@calldei.com

http://www.xmlsh.org