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One reason we cannot do it is because of the nonubiquitous representation of data. Let’s
face it, at just about every level, human communication is flawed. We are rarely able to
say things in a way that always appeals to everyone and certainly not in a way that
everyone will accept. Some of it has to do with language differences, cultural differences,
our perceptions, or our current mind-set. The same rationale applies to the information
technology world. Although we have a digital format for digitizing and representing nearly
every form of data, no universal convention exists. While the Internet certainly is a
universal information transmission media, it is not yet a ubiquitous
communication
media,
that is, it does not provide a universal language that all users (clients) are able to
process.
The net result is that we have created many isolated pockets of technology. Although it
may be safe to say that all of these pockets conceivably hold keys to communication,
none of them provides a complete solution that is ubiquitously usable. How many times
have you had problems working with files in different formats, say opening Microsoft
Word documents on a Unix machine or processing information started in Oracle
database in a complicated CAD package or simulation model? Similarly, why isn’t it
possible to convert all your accounting information from Excel, Quicken, or Microsoft
Money into line items for calculating the taxes you owe the IRS (with automated reflection
of updated rules) and then file that over the Internet? Sure, there are ways to get around
these problems (usually involving a lot of manual “cut and paste” operations), but rarely is
there a complete solution. Any solution almost always involves of large degree of
customization and human interaction and is thus, inherently piecemeal at best. (We’re not
trying to knock humans here—we think humans are great—however, we believe they
really ought to be doing more useful work than cutting and pasting.)
This is not a new problem; engineers and computer scientists have been aware of this for
several decades. The extremely popular solution was—and persists as—“Live with it.”
When HTML came along, it was not as significant a technological leap as it was a leap in
the standardization of technology. It provided a standard way for
displaying
information
on virtually any computer—one where no private licensing was required nor any royalties
due. XML, as a solution, is not so much a technological breakthrough, again, as it is a
standardization of technology
breakthrough.
