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I agree with what you say, although I think XML is a very exciting development. I believed it’s similar to and as important as TCP/IP. It’s a transport mechanism for information. It reduces communication friction so it can flow more freely.
Like TCP/IP, it’s not necessarily the best solution, but it works and it is free for everyone to use. TCP/IP beat SNA and DECNet because it worked reasonably well, was easily available and wasn't proprietary. OSI, I guess is like SGML, open, but too complicated for 90% of what we want to do.
Because XML standards are open, we see a proliferation of tools becoming available to use and create it and support for its use being built into products. That makes it easier for us all to get started than it has been trying to convince each other to adopt our own inventions.
XML Schema is possibly the most important part of XML because we finally have a meta-data language that is both open and useful in automated systems. If I can write it, you can read it and process to it. Of course, without a DOMlet, I still might not know what the tags really mean.
Naturally, there will be vendors trying to patent or copyright schemas or xsl tricks, and trying to protect their schemas by obfuscating them. XML makes communication easier, but we still have to decide if, when and what we convey.
I wonder why there aren’t as many articles and interest groups devoted to how we can use XML to better control or enslave people or pry into their affairs? It must be that XML brings us all closer to God. ;)
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