"NML, or Netomatic markup language, is an XML/Java-based program developed for rich media," Wisniewski told NewsFactor. "NML is a rebel of sorts -- not intended to replace HMTL or Flash, per se, but to provide an alternative."

Multimedia formats require numerous disparate languages to author, message, update and receive interactive content using text, sound, images and animation. Add multiple modes of communication -- e-mail, IM (instant messaging), Web publishing and devices on the desktop or in the hand -- and one language simply does not address every situation.

Visual artist Wisniewski -- who helped design IBM's XML strategy -- wants every user to paint a world of text-based communication with a few easy strokes of a programming brush and a palette of visually compelling, interactive features.

Web-Design Dominance

"Netomat's software enables users to author compelling, interactive and instantly updateable rich media 'experiences,' which can be distributed by e-mail, IM and the Web," he explained. "These experiences do not require a proprietary plug-in."

NML may be part "of a great change in who dominates the Web design landscape," Ferrum College Web services specialist Dean Browell told NewsFactor. He sees "a shift from the programmers who created the Internet's skeleton to artists and designers."

With more user-friendly computer interfaces, artists and designers can dispense with the "clunky Web design environment" created by programmers, he said, "in favor of better aesthetics."

A Thousand Pieces of Text

Text clearly rules the Web, a frustrating fact for most graphic designers who routinely integrate visuals with text-based materials in the offline world of books and brochures.

"Netomat has identified a problem and a need," George Mason University software engineering professor Jeff Offutt told NewsFactor. "Most of our electronic communication is now stuck in text mode. We would like to be able to easily send pictures, voice, et cetera, as well as text."

Netomat, Offutt explained, seems to focus on "usability, which is certainly a crucial problem. Sending sound and pictures through the Internet is quite difficult right now. The user has to have a fair amount of technical knowledge to make the tools work, and most users will not bother." (continued...)

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