[X4U] Shameless, self-serving plug (was Mac Equivalents of Windows apps (was Apple's move to Intel chips))

[Mark Phillips]

On Jun 11, 2005, at 11:24 AM, Robert Ameeti wrote:

>> The key argument is support for open standards. Proprietary EDI is 
>> simply not necessary nor as useful as a published XML schema.
>
> The little guy has no say in this. The first big guys in the room 
> decide that their EDI layout is best (for them) and everyone else has 
> to figure out how to get on the boat if they want to play.

I can't argue the little guy issue. But having been raised on Warner 
Bro's cartoons, I relate to the puny chicken hawk. Sometimes, the 
little guy can get a lot accomplished just by raising his voice and 
speaking his mind. "I'm gonna get me a chicken!"

More to the point, open standards is behind the technology of the day: 
web services, service oriented architecture, and so on. I am pretty 
sure that State Farm management, as in other large companies, are far 
more interested in the efficient transaction of business than whether 
their internal IT guys are happily using the ad hoc data file formats 
cooked up twenty years ago.

The point of using XML schema is to break the bonds of arbitrary 
position dependent EDI formats. Does State Farm really care if you are 
using an IBM clone, a MacOS or a Basic4 machine? No. Only the IT mavens 
in the basement of the State Farm MIS department care. And in their 
defense, they only care because their systems are so damned rigid that 
in 1980 it was the best thing they could come up with. I certainly 
remember some fellow in a white coat telling me the first eight 
characters were the transaction type, the next ten were the transaction 
control number unless...

[queue Lewis Black waving a crooked figure]

the second character of the number was a "W" in which case preceding 
two characters were the warehouse location...

... as if I *care* which warehouse is involved as I am only submitting 
a purchase order...

With the advent of an XML schema to define the data type and structure, 
they need not care if your machine is the same color as their machine. 
(Big endian, little endian, whatever) XML is the basis of 
inter-application data transfer and a sound basis at that. You could be 
using a Univac as long as your input stream can be parsed according to 
the standard. The open, public standards you can find on the web.

The hitch is the vendors of the client software. They have a vested 
interest in keeping it all a secret. I certainly remember writing a 
check for US$5,000 so the aforementioned fellow in a white coat would 
talk to me. Who would want to lose the revenue? OTOH, the vendors have 
a vested interest in evolving with the industry. Their value 
proposition is still there, they just may not realize how to profit 
from it. Yet. Maybe someone has to tell them. Twice.

Now, where is that oversized loudmouth of a chicken...

Mark Phillips
Mophilly & Associates
On the web at http://www.mophilly.com
On the phone at 619 444-9210