On Apr 27, 2007, at 9:54 AM, Keith Grennan wrote:
I agree. I really hope "microformat" won't turn into just another
term for "semantic HTML." Clear communication is difficult enough
already without additional ambiguity.
I think it already has.
Of the mentions of "microformats" I see outside this community, I
think those that mean "semantic HTML" are probably around 20% and
those that mean "semantic HTML standards developed through the
microformats process" (i.e. what we generally mean around here) are
closer to 80%. So I'm still hopeful that we can retain a term that
means the latter in common use.
It's like Adobe trying to control how people use the word 'photoshop'.
I'm confident "Adobe Photoshop" will still work when I need a term to
refer to that particular piece of software, regardless of how often I
use "photoshop" as a more generic verb. I'm not as confident
"microformat" will still work when I need a term to refer to
standards created through the microformats process. So I think the
latter is actually a problem, whereas the former is just trademark
lawyers with too much time on their hands.
You end up with single interest group that keeps repeating "That thing
your refer to is not actually FooBar - these are the real FooBars over
here". But no one else cares, because people will use language to
suit
their needs.
I completely agree that language can't be controlled, but as the
community most actively using the term "microformat," I think we're
in a good position to influence what people understand it to mean, if
we care to try.
As the popularity of the term microformat grows, you might have to
look
for higher ground that's easier to defend.
We may. Unfortunately there are enough people who interpret
"microformat" to mean more than Semantic HTML, that even high ground
would still leave a lot of room for confusion.
Because really, who wants to
spend their time and energy being language police?
Not me. But if someone is using a term in a way that doesn't make
sense to me, and I want to communicate with them, I don't see
alternative to saying "This is what I understand 'microformat' to
mean. You seem to be describing something different." I can't
prevent people from calling cats "dogs" either, but I'm certainly
going to say something when it happens.
Peace,
Scott
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