This is the only sane way to deal with "foreign" elements that a browser
can't understand or render itself. The number of object types (pictures,
equations, spreadsheets, movies, etc., open and platform specific picture
formats, different ways of specifying equations, etc. will quickly
overwhelm anyone writing browsers. It also clutters the very simple HTML we
now have. In some cases it may even be possible to translate certain
images, such as FAX data into text, that a browser can handle.
Digression: Under Windows you could use Dynamic Link Libraries for the
Browser to display data types it does not know about: movies, spreadsheets,
etc. and on the Mac you could also use DLL or AppleEvents.
Kevin Altis
Intel Corporation
SuperComputer Systems Division
Beaverton, Oregon