Web Techniques takes a close look at what will be left when the XML bubble - all the hype - pops.

In interviews with participants from Extensibility, Bluestone, eXcelon, and IBM, Michael Floyd drives for a long-term view of the worlds XML will eventually inhabit.

Floyd found two distinct viewpoints: "those that saw distinct uses of XML, and those that viewed XML as a technology without any distinct communities". The document and data fissure is prominent in some perspectives, while others expect those communities to blur.

The conclusion is intriguing, suggesting that the real benefits of XML - what's left after the bubble bursts - are yet to be discovered.