Peter Flynn, Silmaril Consultants, discussed Publishing opportunities using XML. Flynn talked about DIY SGML as the current Web model. With DIY SGML we have a loose understanding that HTML does provide at least some level of interoperability (and that is 'A Good Thing'), and a desire to get more out of the Web by adding more functionality (read: tags) to the language (now understood to be 'A Bad Thing' by anyone who has had to play one browser off against another). Flynn sees XML, because of its ability to specify a wider variety of document types, as a way to open up a large number of otherwise inaccessible vertical markets where there is a need for more specialized document types, such as the Chemical Markup Language (CML). For publishers, Flynn sees extensive opportunities offered by XML for applications dedicated to high-quality publishing on a purely electronic basis.
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