Re: Why is RDF such a tough sell?

> 
> I must be missing something.  We talk about "plug in" vocabularies -- I 
> assume via RDFS.  So what is the difference between needing to 
> know 1000 RDFS vocabularies to do anything useful and knowing 1000
> XML Schema vocabularies?
> 

A valid point.  Nevertheless, there is going to be a helluva lot less work
involved in looking up the definition of a newly encountered predicate than
in dissecting an arbitrarily long and complex XML Schema.

In a previous note, you mentioned that RDF was only of value within the
context of the Semantic Web.  For the time being, I would agree with that
statement.  If its a private endeavor and the metadata is not intended for
public consumption, its probably easier to whip up an XML Schema.

On the other hand, if we are talking about creating a standard for metadata
which will be published on the Internet, I would utilize, or at least
consider forward compatibility with, RDF - which will likely be widely
deployed in a few years time.

--- Stephen