xml-dev - RE: Realistic proposals to the W3C?

[Bill dehOra <wdehora@cromwellmedia.co.uk>]

>This is the key point.  Much of the hype I've heard about the 
>Semantic Web 
>claims that it will actually enable something useful by 
>allowing B2B commerce 
>to be "autonomous and anonymous."  That, IMHO, is BS.  The 
>core point of the 
>work of Deming and others was that customers and suppliers need close, 
>interdependent relationships.  Autonomy and anonymity may 
>indeed be desirable 
>characteristics to the lonergeek personality, but they're 
>absolutely the last 
>things a customer/supplier relationship needs.  Enabling 
>partners to deal at 
>much-greater-than-arms-length is pouring gasoline on a fire.  
>Cutting the 
>human element out of business is *not* a way to improve it.

From fortune.com: http://www.fortune.com/fortune/2000/10/30/dot3.html

"In retrospect, say analysts, most B2B efforts betrayed a pronounced
cluelessness about how industrial buying actually works. Start with the
supposition that purchasing managers would be thrilled to take bids online
from dozens if not hundreds of suppliers, each vying to be the lowest
bidder. This has proven true in some cases, such as spot-buying of
commodities like excess rolled steel. But for the bulk of spending,
corporations have long been moving in precisely the opposite direction,
establishing deep relationships with a few favored suppliers in a "total
cost" approach. Under this approach, price is but one of a host of criteria,
which include quality, cycle time, services, geography, and baseball
tickets. "What have buyers been doing for years?" asks Edward McCabe, a B2B
analyst at Merrill Lynch. "Whittling down their preferred-vendor list."

-Bill de hÓra