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Re: How Much XML Can There Be?

• From: Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>
• To: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>
• Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 10:10:29 +0000

> 
> It seems certain that there a limit to the amount of living XML that humanity can sustain at any time. As new XML specialties arise, old ones will have to be neglected.
> 

According to

http://ptbertram.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/how-many-books-are-going-to-be-published-in-2012-prepare-for-a-shock/

300,000 books were published in the U.S. 2003.

411,422 books were published in the U.S. in 2007.

1,052,803 books were published in the U.S. 2009.

Approximately 3,000,000 books were published in the U.S. in 2011.

and presumably the US is a diminishing proportion of the total.


So that doesn't suggest there's a limit to humanity's appetite for books, and if that's the case, then there's no reason to believe that our appetite for XML is satiable either.

(Or perhaps that's not quite the right conclusion. As the cost of producing content declines, the amount of content increases, whether the audience is increasing or not.)

Michael Kay
Saxonica

• References:
  • How Much XML Can There Be?
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>