xml-dev - RE: Who will choose the winner?

["Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@simonstl.com>]

Mike Champion wrote:
>Simon St.Laurent wrote:
>>But since people tend to start
>>looking for XML specs at the W3C, they may never even hear of the
>>competition...
>
>Is that true?  My guess would be that people look for "specs" at 
>Borders or Amazon, or the major vendors' websites, or by searching 
>the Web for FAQs and tutorials.  If the the main answer answer is 
>"Borders or Amazon", the writers who explain the technologies may 
>be more influential than the W3C participants who write them in 
>determining which become widely accepted.  

My experience from dealing with readers suggests that beginners start with
a book on XML, effectively giving bookstores an important portal status.
Those books all tend to point to the W3C as the source for further
information, especially when they cover specs in progress.  Vendors who
have the money to pour money into giving away information on XML as part of
their overall tech support and marketing effort also tend to point to the
W3C - it's legitmizing for them, and they're members after all.

There are also a lot of authors who start at the W3C site and will only see
XML Schemas, never hearing of RELAX.  I can't say that this is surprising
or especially blame-worthy, though I'd hope they'd also look around
XML.com, Robin Cover's site, and xmlhack.com.  

Lots of authors write about subjects without connecting with or really
joining the community that's using and implementing them - it's a tough
business.  On the one hand, being an active member of the XML community has
enriched my books a lot, as I'm realizing constantly while revising XML: A
Primer again.  On the other, it's meant an incredible number of unpaid
hours, not all of which were especially rewarding.  I can understand why
many authors choose lurker status, or even less.

I'd say that gives the W3C an additional advantage, but giving authors a
one-stop shop to gather the information for their books.  Readers get
pointed to the W3C from their very first book, while authors stay attracted
to the W3C, even as more specs and more advanced books appear.

All of this is anecdotal, but it's about three years worth of anecdotal.

Simon St.Laurent
XML Elements of Style / XML: A Primer, 2nd Ed.
XHTML: Migrating Toward XML
http://www.simonstl.com - XML essays and books