Legacy elements (was : Complex Table Examples)

David Woolley wrote:

> I think I can make good cases for var, samp and kbd.
> 
> var might better be called meta-name and is one of the standard uses of 
> italics.
> 
> samp and kbd cover cases that are present in practically every user 
> guide for any technological product.

But that is a very restricted universe of discourse.  Surely
the element set of HTML should focus on the needs of /all/
documents and not include (in its core set) elements of
relevance only to one very small domain.  These elements
(which have existed since HTML's inception) serve only
to remind us of the niche-like nerdy place that the web
once was : now that the web is used by everyone, and not
just by nerds, the element set should reflect this and not
carry with it the intellectual baggage of its technological
origins.

Philip Taylor