Reading Minds, The OOXML vote
The OOXML vote (or as I'll refer to it here, MOOX, in honor of Mows) has failed.
And while the spins on it are both positive (The Microsoft PR), negative (Groklaw, et al), and fair (ConsortiumInfo.Org), it indicates two things to me.
First, A standard is a collection of consensual facts, not fantasies. And while it may be possible to buy consensus, sooner or later your fantasies get disrupted by real life. (or even Second Life).
This isn't to say that dual, or apparently competing standards are bad. It is to say that well crafted, thought-out and accepted standards are important. Standards live for (virtually) ever. The process of changing them is hard, slow and sometimes painful. And starting with a flawed standard is bad. Really bad. In fact, it's better to have no standard than a bad one.
Now, I admit to not having read the 6K pages of the standard, so I can't directly comment. But I've seen enough comments, heard enough feedback, and talked to other standards wizards to get the drift. This was a presentable first draft of a specification... but failed the tempering (as in toughening metal, not as in "losing one's"). It didn't have a sustainable edge, it couldn't flex to meet the demands of use, and it certainly didn't create a stronger implementation.
Second (and the Mows spins this well).
Even if you aren't doing anything, you can still be bit. And in some senses, it looks like the MOOX standard got bit in by it's own hype. (And exactly what were you thinking?)
Standards are an important part of openness. Openness is all about the conversation. Mind reading is not a principal component of creating a standard, even though it sometimes appears that way. Good intentions are not enough to drive bad practices.
A standard can appear from an existing technology (or implementations). Implementations can appear from a standard specification. But, note the plural in implementations. And any standard driven by implementations needs to be baked well in the real world, with multiple people and companies using and depending on the technology. When enough people earn their living from a shared technology, it can be considered a consensus, at least of interest.
So, for MOOX, the next steps are hopefully to move into conversation. I expect that the conversation in Geneva will be loud, long and actually, probably pretty interesting.
And as for me, I still don't read minds... just ask my wife!