web service definition

Currently, both definitions define web services as a software component.

This may sound silly but a web service to me is just a service.  It may be
provided by one or more software components or even by people but it is not
the component itself. For example, when one wants to convert a doc into xml
using a web service, the person does not really care whether the conversion
is done by a software component or a group of people. 

The question is: do we really care if a web service is a service or a
software component? IMHO, we do.  The former prompts light binding and loose
coupling while the later encourages more traditional RPC way of thinking. 

Please shine your thoughts on this subject.

Regards, Hao