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Google Maps seems to do a pretty good job of parsing addresses. Given a database of say, US city names, state names and zip codes, could an API not be built th

Google Maps seems to do a pretty good job of parsing addresses. Given a database of say, US city names, state names and zip codes, could an API not be built that would recognize something like that and wrap it in a microformat either by a stupid simple API call or just as an auto-expanding template type feature? I agree with you that the average user (which includes business, etc.) will not do it significantly unless it's effortless so I wonder if app platforms or frameworks can make it more effortless in this way. That combined with some level of justified business value in some sectors could be our best stab at a practically, usefully, partially semantic web. Being pragmatic, I'm not one to say that unless the whole web is semantic then we give up. I'm also not one to believe the whole web will be semantic or that all of it really needs to be.

jamess 19y ago
If you had a machine that could recognise addresses with reasonable accuracy and zero false positives, you wouldn't NEED microformats or the semantic web. That's the whole point, smart humans spending their time compensating for the stupidity of machines. It's a boil the ocean strategy that only makes any kind of economic sense of consider your users peons whose time has no value. Spending time making machines smarter is an investment in the future, the semantic web is an admission of defeat. Also, Google doesn't parse addresses at all, it uses its index data the same way it does spell checking.