Re: XSL formatting model

["Frank Boumphrey" <bckman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>That's not just the way people use the
>>technology, it is the technology itself. It does not allow design that
>.take advantage of centuries of experience about the way that the human eye
>>works.

I agree entirley, but let us not forget that the human eye views the screen
quite differently from the printed page for a whole number of reasons. Fonts
and formatting that look great on the printed page can be obtuse and ugly on
the screen!!

Having said that, we cannot even have a topic of "web typography" until we
have a means of making it happen. CSS positioning properties and the
@fontface rules are the beginings of making it possible. It would be great
if XSL made it probable!!

Frank Boumphrey.
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Prescod <papresco@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, May 26, 1998 6:56 PM
Subject: Re: XSL formatting model


>Lee Fife wrote:
>> But, the folks on the WG are bright and experienced. I'm sure they're
>> not heading in this direction w/o thought.
>>
>> So, explanation please? What's the rationale for abandoning the proven
>> and deployed formatting model represented by HTML/CSS and attempting to
>> develop a new model?
>
>I think that the most compelling reason is that we have an opportunity not
>just to move the Web to generic markup, but also to move it to decent
>display technology. Typographers rightly laugh at the Web as a backwater
>of poor usability and design. That's not just the way people use the
>technology, it is the technology itself. It does not allow design that
>take advantage of centuries of experience about the way that the human eye
>works.  If you look at the XSL requirements, you'll find that they go far,
>far beyond what HTML allows.
>
>I think that it would be wrong-headed to try to move into the future
>incrementally. It would be like trying to describe XML as an "extension"
>of HTML. The "extension" is going to be much larger, more robust and
>better thought out than the original.
>
> Paul Prescod  - http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco
>
>Three things to be wary of: A new kid in his prime
>A man who knows the answers, and code that runs first time
>http://www.geezjan.org/humor/computers/threes.html
>
>
> XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
>


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