Web Services, Boredom, and Wrong Guesses

As I read the latest debate about WS-This and WS-That, I find myself entering a deep state of ennui. Perhaps I've become inured to the peregrinations of the Web services folk. With the exception of the occasionally clarifying posting from folks like Don Box, much of the conversation about Web services seems to be designed to obfuscate or to attempt to demonstrate intellectual superiority rather than address a problem. And I just don't care.

In fact, in recalling the conversations I've had with customers about the software that runs their companies, most of them don't care either except insofar as these technologies have the potential to ruin their lives if they guess wrong. I can't count how many conversations I've had with everyone from line developers at major corporations to the heads of application development where the questions weren't about how to use the various WS technologies, but how to avoid getting stuck guessing wrong.