[microformats-discuss] Developer Adoption

[Joshua Porter]

To add to Bud's post: I wrote up a short piece for my blog ( http:// 
bokardo.com/archives/intro-to-microformats/ ) right after the  
microformats.org site went up. It was my initial impression, and  
contains some wrong impressions...but ones that could be used, if  
combined with other impressions from other designers, to come up with  
a framework for explaining what they are more clearly.

It doesn't matter if microformats are *right*, it matters if they are  
*supported*. Support comes in part from developers who code for them,  
but without *demand* from users support will die on the vine. Support  
is not just having microformats on a site. It includes the ability of  
users to do something useful with them.

A "showcase" application is a great way to grow demand. Upcoming.org  
is not a showcase application for microformats, because they already  
have .ics and feed files available. There is no incentive for users  
to use a scraping tool over simply grabbing the .ics file.

As I say in my post, a great example of a showcase application is  
http://housingmaps.com

After seeing housingmaps, you don't need to know anything else...you  
just want to use the Google Maps API.


josh



On Jul 14, 2005, at 11:27 AM, Bud Gibson wrote:

> On Jul 14, 2005, at 8:48, Andy Hume wrote:
>
>
>> I'm more concerned with getting your 'average designer in the  
>> street' to start authoring contact details within an hcard as a  
>> matter of course. Teach them that the cost is negligible, the  
>> benefits are good today, and may be great tomorrow. Without an  
>> uptake of microformat authors they'll be no reason to implement  
>> applications or parsing machines. Correct?
>>
>>
>
> Chicken and egg.  My discussions with authors often suggest that  
> they are looking for the compelling value proposition to make the  
> extra coding worth it.  That value proposition will come through  
> applications and services that consume the microformat.
>
> I humbly submit hCalendar and hCard as examples to support this claim.
>
> Adoption of microformats depends on a clear value proposition to  
> the author and ultimate end-user.  This in turn depends partly on  
> the availability of applications and services.
>
> Bud
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