Raw

Nick, thanks for the positive. If I can drum up a little support for SemWeb systems exposed as feedreader-friendly formats (I'll probably have to implement myself first), you'll be the first to hear.



Phil, I don't disagree about the value of tools and end-user applications. But I would suggest that these things are well on their way. The base languages needed for the Semantic Web are in place, and tools (as in triplestores etc) which are needed to build useful and interesting stuff are widely available. Practical applications that would be difficult otherwise are being built. But the real application is the Semantic Web itself, in the same way that a browser isn't interesting without the web behind it.



Regarding formats without tools, I think you've got a fallacy in suggesting RSS and OPML are somehow special. Which came first, the RSS aggregator or RSS?



Heh, your choice of the word "parasitic" is a bit ironic, because you could say the OPML Editor and RSS apps are parasitic on the web, and the Semantic Web is an extension of the web.

@en