Sunday, August 13, 2006

Editorial 

1. I think it's great that Microsoft is making a wizzy editor for bloggers. I've been asking for this since 1996, I thought it should be part of the browser, but having it outside the browser is almost as good.

2. It's only innovative because it comes from Microsoft. UserLand did one for Manila, in 2000, and then later, created an open API so that anyone could make one for any blogging tool, and they did. There are lots of fine editors for weblogs.

3. I remember being told that Microsoft would never use XML-RPC, just like they once told me they would never use RSS. I said, in response, that they should focus on utility not programmer religion. Somehow Microsoft got there. It took six years in one case, and ten in the other, but it did happen. So when programmers tell you that they won't use XML-RPC because REST is better, so you have to wait, tell them that Microsoft used to say shit like that, and eventually they decided to stop waiting, and they just wrote the code, shipped it, and everyone was happy (except Mac users, but we already have many fine editors that work just as well).