Re: ... other formats in HTML ...

On Dec 2, 2007, at 4:26 AM, Dr. Olaf Hoffmann wrote:

>
> The best method to realise something is to specify first,
> then implement it in a useful way and use it.
> If it is the other way round this mainly causes confusion,
> wasted time and a lot of superfluous nonsense in the web ;o)

I think this is the core of where we disagree.

Often, the most successful W3C specifications have been the ones that  
standardize things that are already implemented, or that are informed  
by and updated in accordance with implementation feedback. This does  
not always lead to total conceptual purity. But it does lead to  
pragmatic solutions that actually get used.

On the other hand, specifications created by committee from whole  
cloth in a vacuum tend to be overengineered committee-designed  
nonsense, and frequently fail in the marketplace. The waterfall  
process for software development is obsolete.

Regards,
Maciej