[uf-discuss] microformats for normal people, like my mum

[Joe Andrieu]

Alex Faaborg wrote[edited for chronology]:
> On Jun 27, 2007, at 4:52 PM, Thom Shannon wrote:
> > Yeah, exactly that kind of thing.
> >
> > A lot of the power of MF reminds me of Smart Tags in Office XP,
> > maybe we could look to the way that was marketed and some 
> of the UI  
> > stuff it did was really good.
> >
> > IntelliTags
> > Infolets
> > Infobits
> > Open Smart Tags? ;-)
> >
> I'm a little wary of associating microformats too closely with Smart  
> Tags or IntelliSense given the massive public outcry Microsoft  
> received when they considered including the feature in IE6.  There  
> are obviously some very important distinctions between the two  
> systems, (microformats are open and extensible, and web site 
> creators  
> place microformats in their pages instead of the browser injecting  
> them).  But these distinctions may be subtle enough to cause some  
> initial confusion if the user facing name is similar.


I would suggest that uF aren't about the formating or the tagging. It's about the data.

Perhaps SmartData.

I'm not sure I like that, but it's sort of what uF does for you. Dumb data can't be heard/seen. Dumb data stuck in HTML is almost
useless for augmenting the browsing experience or assimilating into the semantic web.

SmartData is instantly available to apps in a way they can actually use. SmartData in HTML allows standard javascript and browser
plug-ins to do smart things.

For me, the question is what does the non-developer end-user perceive when they see the "SmartData" icon?  How does that relate to
their world? It isn't about the formatting or the HTML tags... Those are things that end-users don't really care about or even
conceptuallize.  

When Grandma visits MovieFone.com and it has a "SmartData" icon, I think maybe it will eventually make sense that clicking on the
icon lets her add that movie to her Outlook calendar...

Note also that I would say SmartData is any POSH that is understood by the client app in a smart way. uF are the broadest library of
POSH, but certainly not the only option.

SmartText might also work.


$0.02 worth of product branding.

-j


--
Joe Andrieu
SwitchBook Software
http://www.switchbook.com
joe at switchbook.com
+1 (805) 705-8651