Dash: Yeah, that's what we've seen. You're not going do a rip and replace, but you can definitely augment what you have. The
three markets are marketing communications; inside the intranet it's kind of knowledge management; and then the third market
is nanopublishing, and that's probably a smaller niche, [for example] something like a site called Gawker, [which is] a New
York gossip column but written in Weblog format. The knowledge management [opportunity] is the one that's most interesting
to me. I think there's a tremendous opportunity [because] people expect to be able to Google things. So that's something where
we can make content that's a little more Google-friendly, as it were, and more useful to get to within your organization,
and that's a pretty compelling case.
InfoWorld: How is important is RSS in that context?
Dash: I think syndication is important. I don't know if I necessarily [tie it] solely to RSS. Obviously there are other formats
being developed, and a balance of both of them is what we're hearing our users want. Our emphasis is very strong in terms
of adoption and tools right now. It's a little weak in terms of workflow, versioning, permission, security, that sort of thing.
So I think there's going to be a complement of two formats that people are going to choose from. That being said, the benefits
of syndication in general, regardless of format, are extraordinary. We generate more RSS base than probably any other tool
out there. We support every kind of flavor of RSS that's there.
InfoWorld: How will Weblogs evolve in the context of RSS and other XML-based syndication technologies?
Dash: The key thing that's happened is we have really large companies -- everything from integration companies to small consultants
-- that are saying "We recognize that this works the way users work." I think even getting to that threshold is a milestone,
where it's not just seen as the kids doing diaries on the Web anymore. Syndication in general is going to be a key part of
how this information [gets out]. The other thing that's important is a unified API. The APIs [that exist] right now are just
not appropriate for enterprise use.
InfoWorld: In what way?
Dash: A couple of our goals were to be able to do things like WSDL files so you can drag them into a development environment
and be creative with something that plugs in as a Web service, to Weblog without having to do a lot of development. We think
that enterprise developers expect that now. Being able to easily create a Web service that hooks into a Weblog publishing
engine is a key thing. Being able to integrate security, being able to have a unified API that works across [tools] so you
don’t have lock-in -- those are the pieces we're working on now and we see pretty much universal buy-in on all those ideas.
InfoWorld: You alluded earlier to the fact that Movable Type is designed to work with various types of clients. Looking ahead,
what do you think will be the killer client application?
Dash: We have a long-term vision, which is something I generically describe as the micro content client. Basically it says
that all types of micro content are equivalent. Whether they're e-mail messages, instant messaging messages, Weblog posts
-- even Usenet -- [they] would have one unified API and pieces can be shuttled between all the different contexts that you're
in. I think that's something where everybody likes to talk about the underused power of the desktop and grids. One thing that
might be useful in applying those ideas to Weblogs and managing Weblog information is that the computers can be used to make
connections and apply context to the data that's being handled. But first I think we [need] to have a critical mass of data
before people start to make clients around it. So in the short term you're going to see integration with e-mail clients and
instant messaging, whatever people are using today.
InfoWorld: What discussions are you having with the e-mail and instant messaging vendors?
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(InfoWorld) - In the litigious world we live in, deploying a unified communications platform in your enterprise could...
