If I may offer my opinion on this as well, I do not believe that everyone
using a standard protocol or hardware.  Rather, much like Open Database
Connectivity(ODBC for short) has standardized the method for accessing many
different types of databases,  I think that the operating systems will provide
"wrapper" standards for using different protocols and hardware.  To much
extent this is already happening.  I just think that it will become even more
transparent to the users and much easier to manage for the developers and
administrators.  Of course, I must admit that I am a strong Microsoft
supporter so my views/opinions are slanted towards their developments.

Gary Acord
Acord Information Management

-----Original Message-----
From:   Museum discussion list  On Behalf Of Barbara Palmer
Sent:   Monday, July 28, 1997 11:32 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: Wintel machines versus Macintoshes?

John Chadwick wrote:

>I expect to continue to support both platforms.  ... Granted, the
distinction is
>breaking down with the growth of the Web.

John, I've heard this notion elsewhere.  I gather that, eventually,
everybody's networks will operate on a standard communication protocol, just
like the internet, and that most types of hardware and software will be
supported with ease.  Can you elaborate for the clueless newbie?  Is the
intention that our internal networks will be using internet protocol (ip)
and hypertext markup language (html) or similar?

Barbara Palmer
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