Michael Kay clarified for me:
> I think Simon is probably thinking in terms of opportunity costs. That is,
> the idea that if this technology hadn't been so widely adopted, the
> community might have adopted something better instead, and gained a better
> return on its investment.

Yes, that's a key part of the argument.  I think the W3C generally did a 
good job of creating XML specifications when it was stripping them down 
based on SGML experience.  After that initial process, though, their 
inventions are not nearly as impressive.  Other people and organizations 
did a much better job of creating useful tools, but lack the W3C brand 
power.

> He might also be thinking that for some people who have adopted the
> technology, the cost has been greater than the benefit. I think it would be
> hard to demonstrate that objectively.

In the big picture, you're quite correct that it would be hard to 
demonstrate that objectively.  It would require access to stories and 
data that aren't likely to be shared and are often difficult to measure.

Anecdotally, I've encountered people who love W3C XML Schema and people 
who despise it.  Their fondness or loathing for it seems to depend on 
what they tried to use it for.

Complex data structures seem to lead to loathing, as do document-centric 
projects.  Versioning in particular seems to lead to loathing, except in 
extremely simple projects.

I am, of course, pretty well-known to be a critic of the technology, so 
I'm sure there's a bias in which stories people choose to tell me.

-- 
Simon St.Laurent
http://simonstl.com/

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