15.6 What's It All Mean?
In my opinion, Adobe's use
of RDF/XML demonstrates how RDF/XML will be integrated in other
applications and uses in the future—quietly, behind the scenes.
Unlike XML with its public exposure, huge fanfare, and claims of
human and machine compatibility and interoperability, RDF was never
meant to be anything more than a behind-the-scenes metadata model and
an associated serialization format. RDF records statements so that
they can be discovered mechanically — nothing more, nothing
less. However, this simple act creates a great many uses of RDF/XML
because of the careful analysis and precision that went into building
the specification upon which RDF resides and which RDF/XML
transcribes.
RDF assures us that any data stored in RDF/XML format in one
application can be incorporated with data stored in RDF/XML format in
another application, and moving the data from one to the other occurs
without loss of information or integrity. While sharing and
transmitting, merging and coalescing the data, we can attach meaning
to objects stored on the Web — meaning that can be accessed and
understood by applications and automated agents and APIs such as
those covered in this book.
As the use of RDF grows, the dissemination of RDF/XML data on the Web
increases and the processing of this data is incorporated into
existing applications, the days when I'll search for
information about the giant squid and receive information on how to
cook giant squid steaks will fade into the past. I will be able to
input parameters specific to my search about the giant squid into the
computer and have it return exactly what I'm looking
for, because the computer and I will have learned to understand each
other.
This belief in the future of RDF and RDF/XML was somewhat borne out
when I did a final search for information on the giant squid and its
relation to the legends and to that other legendary creature, Nessie
the Loch Ness Monster, as I was finishing this book. When I input the
terms giant squid legends Nessie in Google,
terms from my subject lists associated with the article
that's been used for most of the examples in this
book, the PostCon RDF/XML file for my giant squid article was the
first item Google returned.
It's a start.
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