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Status: U Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 11:25:27 -0500 (EST) From: Ian Grigg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: XML/X - part II Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> List-Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> In Part I, I discussed XML/X as a spend or transfer interface. It specifies a standard way to deliver an instruction to a DGC to cause a transaction. XML/X specifies the content of such a request (not how to get it to the server, as will become apparant below). It also assumes that you are in control of the entire process, so it doesn't, for example, address the needs for shopping cart interfaces (SCIs). Sorry about that. For all that, the universe of needs that XML/X addresses remains quite stellar. It is the next need that we talk about in this missive, Part II. It was while we were scratching around thinking how to proceed with implementation that Erwin came up with the extraordinary idea of expanding the transfer interface to cover *all* aspects of a spend system. Thus, using the XML/X interface as the bridge between the backend and the frontend components of a DGC. Or, in other words, a website can talk XMLX/X to a backend that implements the protocol. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Some of the most innovative work in digital currencies has been done by simply layering one system on another. That is, creating a new digital currency by reserving and spending through another. This method allows the new upper layer to take the best of the lower, fix the bad parts, and present a superior product to the users. An example for this would be the 1mdc service, which provides a zero-transaction fee access to e-gold. I don't quite understand how it survives as a business, but I don't care: the important thing is that it is out there innovating, improving our economy, testing the edges of our understanding and business models. Or, look at the Islamic Mint's e-dinar which provides a different look & feel whilst maintaining the same transactional equation. All achieve slick extensions to the overall capabilities, but at a huge cost: They have to program through to the original systems, which are simply not designed for such layering. Imagine if all systems exposed their essential capabilities through one standard programmable interface: the innovation and experimentation of layering would receive a huge boost. Don't try and program those systems, go out there and build your own, with a standardised XML/X that allows you to talk direct to the metal, almost. Not only that, building a straight DGC would now be de-risked. A potential builder of a system would go out and purchase a "standard XML/X backend." Imagine that, would you like single or double entry scoops with your database Sir? How many nodes with that? Start with that discount single entry junior model and upgrade to the real stuff when you get your first customer transaction. Don't knock it, our original Ricardo Issuer lasted until well into 1996 before we upgraded the quantity and quality of entries :-) Then off to the 'Alley for a contract web site to drive your hot new backend. Choose from a team that is good at web sites but thinks a transfer happens in JFK. Try them out on XML. If they still grumble about the airport coffee, you know you are on the right track. Sounds simple, but in that separation lies a huge advantage. Only people who have tried to build these systems know how hard, how almost impossible it is to achieve progress without the right separation between teams. By separating out the backend from the frontend like that, we've created a situation where a backend can be built from ready components. In a nutshell, all DGC transactions are essentially the same. They can all be modelled on a bog-standard double entry accounting engine. So let's get that model encapsulated into an interface; that's what we are trying to do with XML/X. Just as equally, all DGC web sites have a standard set of features. Once the interface is defined, any good and competant web house in the world can produce a good site. The next insight presented by XML/X requires a bit more thought. But, in a sense, whilst it may be only a small step for a programmer standing on the right lunar ladder, it's a giant digital leap into the rarified atmosphere of governance, it's the mass transit system of planetary commuting, it's ... TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM! --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA The IBUC Symposium on Geodesic Capital April 3-4, 2002, The Downtown Harvard Club, Boston <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> for details... "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
