Hype

XML will solve all your information problems XML will solve a first level of relatively easy information problems, but gains much of its power from large numbers of people agreeing on XML as a standard.
Web Services are magic glue for programs Web Services are much like Super Glue - they can bond very different surfaces together very tightly. Problems emerge when you either discover that the join is too tight, or when you glue all your fingers together.
Point, click, and connect Integrated development environments (IDEs) have been letting developers assemble local code and even tightly-bound client-server code for years. Web Services seems like a golden opportunity for them, but also a huge challenge.