Re: Formatting Objects considered harmful

"Simon St.Laurent" wrote:
> 
> I'm saying the use of such semantic firewalls basically kills off the
> arguments behind the creation of XML by the W3C - delivering _meaningful_
> generic markup over the Web.  Hiding your semantics or charging for them is
> putting up a wall to intelligent search engines and agents as well as
> cheapskates.  The self-interest of the business behind the semantic
> firewall is well-served, but the community is poorly served.

You are missing an important part of Guy's argument. In some cases you the
consumer have a choice of only the dumbed-down information or none at all.
The W3C has no hope of changing the business model of these companies and
it is highly debatable whether they should be trying.

You cannot watch "Sports Night" without commercials either. It is an
annoying business model but it is a business model that allows me to watch
sports night.

-- 
 Paul Prescod  - ISOGEN Consulting Engineer speaking for only himself
 http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco

"Microsoft spokesman Ian Hatton admits that the Linux system would have
performed better had it been tuned."
"Future press releases on the issue will clearly state that the research
was sponsored by Microsoft."
  http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/enterprise/1999/9904221410.asp


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