What if Firefox 3 supports Microformats
Mozilla Firefox 3 may support Microformats, RWW reports. This news was spreading because Mozilla designer Alex Faaborg wrote an interesting blog on why browsers should support semantic markups. In his blog, Alex writes,
Much in the same way that operating systems currently associate particular file types with specific applications, future Web browsers are likely going to associate semantically marked up data you encounter on the Web with specific applications, either on your system or online.
Alex envisions the future Firefox browser as an information broker (or an aggregator) for the Web. It will automatically detect, extract and collect different semantic information on the Web and populates users’ favorite applications with this information. RWW has a nice diagram that illustrates Firefox as an information broker.
I believe browsers with semantic markup support is really the key. One, they will drive the mass population to publish contents with explicitly described semantics. Second, they will encourage startups to hijack their semantic markup support to create unique services for niche markets (e.g., GIS, bio-informatics, health care, online movie rental/ranking and vidoe gaming). Third, browsers with semantic markup support will push for a faster pace of convergence of popular ontologies and vocabularies.
In summary, while I’m not completely certain that Firefox 3 will eventually support Microformats (I hope it does), but it definitely is a positive news for the Semantic Web community. It gives us the confidence not to ask “Will I live to see the Semantic Web?”, but instead ask “What will be the first Semantic Web application for the mass?”
Spotted on: Mozilla and Microformats, dowhatimean.net.
