[microformats-discuss] Re: Educationg Others

[Danny Ayers]

On 10/3/05, Scott Anderson <portletdev at gmail.com> wrote:

 I like the idea of semantic markup in XHTML but it is not
> clear to me as to what (or which) problems you are trying to solve
> with microformats.

My take on this is that there is currently a significant amount of
explicit data published on the Web which is presented solely in a
human-readable form. Much of this data can additionally be made
machine-readable using the microformat techniques, gaining the
benefits of automation computers offer.

I don't certainly don't think microformats offer the best solution to
all data markup problems, just that there are a large number of
situations where they may be preferable to (say) a plain XML approach,
especially in the doc-oriented Web. In other cases XHTML may just
complicate matters. There is a danger of "when the only tool you have
is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail". The assumption that all
developers will be more familiar with HTML than other forms of markup
is questionable. I also suspect that presenting microformats as a
one-size-fits-all alternative to XML is likely to be counterproductive
when it comes to adoption. But presented as a complementary
alternative to plain XML, they make sense.

What type of applications and/or services do you
> envision consuming these data structures?

Personally I'm looking at tools that resemble RSS aggregators, but
using the RDF model extend into domains beyond simple blog-like
content. I'd be interested in hearing what other people have in mind.

Cheers,
Danny.

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http://dannyayers.com