[thelist] Microsoft, the inventor of XML!

>Our governments, our journalists, our mainstream are still in the
>dark about computers in general and the web in particular.

A little OT, but...

Some of the time that's true. However, I think that most of the time, the
reporter *does* understand the technology and computers, but has to "dumb it
down" for the general public. Knowing that this reporter *wasn't* a
technologically savvy individual, I'm guessing that Ballmer said that XML
was a "computing language" in order that the general public might understand
what the hell XML basically was. If he said "meta data", few people would
know to what he was referring (certainly not the reporter!).

There's a journalist for the Cincinnati Enquirer here who writes a column in
the "Plugged In" section. Even though the section is geared towards tech
nerds (term used lovingly), he still uses mostly lamens terms, which are
usually less correct.

It's the same kind of deal for everything. I had an article written about me
and web stuph a while back. I explained to the guy what I did (ASP/PHP/JS
development), and he completely understood me. He was even asking
intelligent questions. Nevertheless, he ended up writing something like "...
things that go way over the heads of most of us." I have no doubt in my mind
that he could have given a better explanation... and he was a business
columnist!

I understand, and agree with, what you said. And this instance is certainly
an example of what you mentioned. However, I don't think that tech folks are
misquoted/misunderstood by journalists more often than any other folks. I
think that more often than not, this sort of things stems from the "dumbing
down effect". I think it is more accurate to say that a good bit of the
general public is in the dark about computers in general. One of these days,
my grandma will get a computer.

- matt