It's missing the key thing web writers and readers need. We told Netscape this, and they said they would work with us on the next rev of the spec. Now, being an experienced commercial developer for twenty years, I know that such promises mean almost nothing. And with all the departures at Netscape, it's not surprising that they went forward with the next rev without our help. I think it's pretty clear that the second one is better.
Writing happens in paragraphs.
Web writing allows links to be anywhere. Technology serves writers and readers, they shouldn't be limited by technology. I hope Netscape will now work with us so this world doesn't have to fragment. I think we were generous by holding back on our format to see if we could work with Netscape. We published our format publicly in 1997, long before Netscape entered this area.