Tim Berners-Lee talks about W3C reform and reinventing HTML

An old adage states that a frog will jump out of boiling water, but can be boiled alive if placed in cold water that is heated at a slow pace. Apparently, the process of making amphibian soup is not entirely unlike the process of cooking up a new web standard. Citing limited adoption of XHTML, Internet innovator and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) ringleader Tim Berners-Lee says HTML must be reinvented through a process of incremental change that will build on the existing standard.

Berners-Lee's statements are, in general, a response to the stagnation of the HTML standard, the growing demand for rich web applications, the activities of the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), and concerns voiced by dissatisfied former W3C participants like Bjoern Hoehrmann. Berners-Lee hopes to establish a new working group that will focus on revising and improving the HTML standard while working to bridge the gap between HTML and XHTML.