RE: [xml-dev] SGML complexity

[sterling <sstouden@thelinks.com>]

Yes, the short term test is "community" but in the end, the technology has 
to be irreversibly satisfying to some market need and adopted by all of 
the user members of that market.  The products that support and enable 
must satisfy the essence of that need. 

As I see the market need, it is universal, not niche. The real market is 
for a universal solution capable of solving any demand for ordered data 
presentations.  Few want to learn some of the 20000000000000000000 
different --ml languages for each segment of it. 

Most want a language like English, that can be used to present and 
express anything that comes up.  SGML does that.   It takes about 15 years 
for  members of the general population to learn the English language, how 
long  would it  take for the general population to learn SGML?  English is 
one of the most hated sujects in grammar and high school and I think SGML 
would be too, but it is the only language that could be truly universal.

I think the targeted community approach will work for a while, but in 
fewer than six or seven years you might run out of targeted 
niche communities.  There are still a few commodore computer fans!

sterling

On Thu, 7 Sep 2006, Michael Kay wrote:

> > xml's future is tied up in all these things and more. as is 
> > xslt, and sax.
> 
> Yes and no. You have to have a critical mass to survive, but you don't need
> to win a ratings war. Just because J. K. Rowling sells more copies doesn't
> mean my book is a failure. The test is whether you have a user community
> that gets benefits from the technology, not whether there are people outside
> that community who fail to see the benefits, or whether there's the odd
> person throwing mud from the sidelines.
> 
> Michael Kay
> http://www.saxonica.com/
>