Re: WAP and its competitors

Well, if XHTML Basic 2 is seemingly the way to go, in terms of the W3C
anyway, is there any use learning WML ? Infact doesn't XML make WML
obsolete too ? Surely an XML DTD would be used when the document
encounters a mobile device, and format the page accordinly. If browsers
then support (limited) HTML as well as WML, we won't have to move to
WML, everyone would just start using the greatly versatile XML.

Or am I making no sense here ? :)

Sunny

Masayasu Ishikawa wrote:
> 
> "Sujatha N. Marsden" <smarsden@etranslate.com> wrote:
> 
> > I have been keenly following this IG and I have a great interest in it.
> > But my head reels.
> 
> Could be ...
> 
> > KVM, NTT, WAP...WML, HDML, WBXML, C-HTML...
> 
> Well, it seems you're mixing so different things here.
> 
> > NTT seems to have their own
> > protocol but they are members of W3C as well.
> 
> In fact, NTT DoCoMo is a board member of the WAP Forum as well.
> 
> > WAP has been submitted to
> > W3C for review but NTT's hasn't been.
> 
> "WAP" includes a lot of things (WML, WMLScript, WBXML, WSP, WTP, WDP,
> WCMP, ...), and only WBXML has been submitted to the W3C so far.
> 
> > NTT is in Japan, WAP in Europe.
> 
> Well, isn't the WAP Forum a world-wide organization?  There are many
> members of the WAP Forum from the US as well as Asia, and in fact some
> companies are providing "so-called" WAP services in Japan.
> 
> > With so many protocols and formats, how does W3C work to make sure that the
> > internet community doesn't end up with diverging protocols and formats?  If
> > there are protocols & formats in work already in the fields, how do we have
> > any influence on their future enhancements that would lead them towards
> > some sort of standardization.
> 
> There is the WAP Forum - W3C Coordination Group (see press release [1]).
> This group exists to maintain and develop consistency between
> the specifications of the WAP Forum and the W3C.  XHTML Basic [2] is
> an attempt to that direction.  There are other areas of coordination,
> e.g. on multimedia.
> 
> You may also be interested in the Plenary Panel at WWW9 on May 17, 2000:
> "Towards a WAP-Wide-Web?" [3]  This panel would exactly deal with your
> concern.
> 
> [1] http://www.w3.org/1999/12/W3C-WAP-CG-pr
> [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic
> [3] http://www9.org/w9-panels.html
> 
> Regards,
> --
> Masayasu Ishikawa / mimasa@w3.org
> W3C - World Wide Web Consortium

Received on Friday, 17 March 2000 08:53:33 UTC