Books Take Electronic Turn--Alex Hamilton

The glue to hold all the different book components together will fuel a major demand for database services, as well as for those with composition engines that enable the rapid reassembly of the parts back into new publications that are tailored to fit the output medium and format.

And, while some may hold XML out as the savior for doing all of this seamlessly and automatically, that is asking a little too much for the stepchild of SGML. Although XML has a number of valuable features, it comes up short in the area of formatting, as it lacks essential tools such as the ability to kern type. XML will certainly have a role in future workflows, but probably as a scripting language that integrates different applications into a workflow.