Does Not Compute

During a workplace discussion today it occurred to me just how much the computer landscape has changed over the past 15 years or so. The discussion centered around the efficient creation of content and its transfer from author to distributor to consumer.

As it Should Be

Ideally, all three parties should be able to use any mutually accessible format. That way (assuming the integrity of the transfer medium) there is nothing lost as the data changes hands. In our particular case, however, the medium basically dictates the form in which we distribute our content. Since HTML is the language of the Web, that is the format in which we distribute our content.

Now here is the part where nodding heads and murmurs of encouragement were replaced by expressionless faces and stony silence: It seems reasonable that we should receive our content as HTML. Better yet, XML. XML converts easily to HTML, and as an added bonus it's much more machine friendly than HTML and is practically universally supported.

The Sad Truth

My line of thinking during this argument came down to this: Right now, our workflow puts the onus on people to do a certain amount of work with the assistance of computers. Wouldn't it be more efficient to let a computer do the work? Certainly a person would have to create the content no matter how the information is subsequently handled, but why should a person handle it once it's been created?

15 years ago a computer was a machine that could handle more information faster and more accurately than a person. While this is still true today, it has, ironically, become a rather archaic definition. Computers are now faster, more capacious, and more prevalent than they were 15 years ago, and while they can do more, we're allowing them to do less.