Markpoints to an interesting exchange at the W3C Tag Call, where Roy (Fielding) states:
“I don’t find any technology that doesn’t use the Web to be a useful product of the W3C.”
Oddly enough, I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. The W3C should be Web-focussed, which means that it is very srange for them to entertain (in this case specifically) WS-Addressing since the Web already has an addressing/identification mechanism in place. Similar arguments could easily undermine the position of SOAP as a W3C sponsored initiative. Same for WSDL (though I would shed no tears if that particular “innovation” lost its home).
So does this mean that Web Services are finished? No. Not at all. But what it does indicate is that people are realising that Web Services and the Web are two distinct networks that are layered on top of the base Internet. Some folks take the position that one is superior or obviates the need for the other, but you know what – the Internet lets competing innovations flourish. Whether the W3C should do so is clearly becoming a very fundamental issue.
