Hi Sam,
Le lundi 05 avril 2010 à 18:05 +0100, Sam Liddicott a écrit :
What makes "it works" in real life is not open standards but wide-spread adoption, however much we like to think otherwise.
Microsoft Office is very widespread, I think we have to agree on that. However, it doesn't make "it works". Try to send a .docx to someone using Office 2003. Try to send a 2003 .doc to someone using a 1997 .doc or using Mac Word Office.
It does *not* work, although it is very widespread.
However, if you compare, ODT being an open standard it is very much likely to work with several implementations (being Open or proprietary software like Lotus).
If I'm not wrong, the next version of Office is also going to be able to handle ODT.
And considering Ogg, a lot of widespread software can read it. And even proprietary software like Windows Media can read it if you install a library (not sure about this though).
If me or others persuade the average man to use ogg and he actually follows our advice, he'll come to hate us and think we are idiots because instead of making things easier we made things harder for him and all of his correspondents.
How do you explain the emergence of the AAC proprietary standard that only iTunes could read? Try not to be unreasonably defeatist, please.
We then have to explain it's part of a larger campaign which will actually bear fruit for him in a few years time if he can just bear with it.
The software is there. It's working. It's now, not in a few years.