----8><--------------------
I disagree. Natsuno from DoCoMo and many others spell out quite clearly
their
desire to follow global standards, not make them, for the obvious benefits
to
all. The decision to go with cHTML over WAP/WML was for that reason, not the
desire to do something proprietary. The benefits of a proprietary system
pale in
comparison to the benefits of using open internet standards like HTML and
HTTP.
DoCoMo knew this and explicitly acted on such knowledge.
----8><--------------------
Way back in February 1998, Access - whose microbrowser is found in almost
every i-mode phone - submitted the Compact HTML recommendation to the W3C
(http://www.w3.org/Submission/1998/04/). Neither CHTML or HDML are global
standards but submissions that are yet to be adopted by the W3C although
clearly the W3C are moving towards an XHTML standard for wireless devices
that will look something like CHTML.
Enter DoCoMo who supported the original CHTML submission yet when I talked
to them to confirm i-mode uses CHTML where adamant it does not. They
insisted i-mode uses a subset of HTML 2.0-4.0 - just like CHTML - but not
CHTML and if you compare i-mode with the CHTML submission
(http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/NOTE-compactHTML-19980209/), there are clear
differences.
i-mode uses HTML which is a W3C standard as WML uses XML which is also a W3C
standard but both have propriety extensions so neither can claim the high
ground.
In the end it is not standards but usage that maters as anyone who has
developed for IE and Netscape knows.
Kyle
X-9 DESIGN LAB
http://www.X-9.com
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
Received on Thu Feb 1 03:58:34 2001