Title: A Season of Locusts (WAS RE: [xml-dev] Evolution of the WWW Given Sensor Arrays)





Binary or not, if the sensors rely on web services, 

these are by definition, if I understand what is said 

on the TAG list, not on the web.   So maybe what 

we are seeing is not evolution of a single species, 

but a bifurcation in which a new species is emerging. 

Whether or not it replaces the old one, it becomes 

ever more distinct and adapted to its self-selected 

niche in the Internet landscape.  


Deja vu all over again, as they say.  We have come full 

circle from touting statelessness to embracing statefulness 

as the means to deliver a 'richer user experience'. Just 

as the user interface luddites tell us that anything 

animated on a screen is bad, distracting, and a 

waste, animation is seen as the new user interface 

tool of choice in niches where the ability to associate 

a real time feed to a virtually-enabled model is 

the best means of navigation and coordination.


Meanwhile, the pundits of the old species rebrand their 

technologies as something revolutionary  

when experienced observers know that nothing of 

the kind is happening.  What is happening is the 

old pundits are trying to preserve their status 

by selling old ideas as new ones.  Because market  

perceptions can be created out of thin air, this works for a 

while until the lack of oxygen begins to show on 

the faces of the immersed paying audience.


The arrival of a swarm of locusts is always heralded 

by a deafening buzz.  Whenever you look at a list 

and it is dominated by marketeers, CTOs and CEOs 

notable for having eviscerated venture capital or creating 

products whose success relied on taking the property of 

others and giving it away as if it were free while 

reserving for themselves parachutes sewn from investor losses, you 

hear that same deafening buzz.  There is no defense 

against locusts that doesn't poison the land, so one 

let's them eat until they are fat and waits for the 

birds.  Living systems are voracious and relentless.


A wise farmer knows these cycles, is careful to 

rotate crops, and on seeing the lengthening line at the 

wheat seed store, buys cotton seed.  Cheap coats 

are a good market when bread is scarce.


len