Is there really a need for an HTML version 5 etc with XHTML? I read Tims comments and thought why bother. I know there are a lot of new devices coming on the market and maybe the computer will not be the most used device to view web content. I just can’t see what else can be done with HTML which cannot be done with XHTML.

Sounds a sensible observation to me. Full time programmers zinging along at lightning speed is all very well providing that their products are only for themselves (each other) or that user products require no specialized knowledge. That might be a common aim of great web design, but it also isn’t fully compatible with widespread user interaction and perticipation on the web.

The more one wants to ‘do’ on a computer, the more specialized knowledge one has to acquire.

As a user, I didn’t find learning basic html too taxing, and wasn’t expecting to be confronted with hybrid css, xtml, javascript, etc. compilations on the next round. Do I spend time going further with css now or drop it to familiarize myself with php first? Even a few years ago it was a fairly simple matter to find someone competent to do something for me if I didn’t have time to learn how personally. Now I’m encountering a phenomenon where web developers are fluent in Ruby (for example) and reasonably conversant in a number of other languages, but require a period for familiarization with *something* for even the seemingly simplest of projects.

Compatibility, of course, is an equally difficult offspring of this issue.

Vera

eric 1000

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