In 1984, Abelson and Sussman brought up an intriguing idea: ``An exquisite engineering art has been developed balancing between multiplicity of function and density of devices. In any event, hardware always operates at a level more primitive than that at which we care to program'' \cite[1]{sicp}. Today, software operates at a level more primitive than at which (some) care to program.


More specifically, aspects of digital publishing concerning things like the user interface are also at a level more primitive than at which some care to program. If we simply look at blogging platforms or Facebook, we can see that people like to ``publish'', but don't want to have to worry about creating the user interface. Especially with books, it is the \emph{text} that is creative, the layout is expected. 


\TeX\ has already been the de facto standard for publishing academic work, so why not combine the standard in academia for authoring with the standard de facto for Web consumption (HTML)? This bridges the gap between academic publishing and cutting edge technology.


``Unlike programs, computers must obey the laws of physics'' \cite[1]{sicp}. This quote suggests the loose structure and nature of the software developing environment, and user interface design is far more free from structure. \TeX\ provides us with some ``laws'' to obey in order to design the output of a text and graphical language around. Hence, we can attempt to create a synthesis of a structured user interface specification (\TeX) and a structured functional specification (HTML5) to provide a publishing platform for the current and next generation. 


This project presents itself as a Sketch of what authoring the academic Web could be like, if we can take two standards bodies and combine them. It also opens up the door to cross more people over the Web authoring bridge, because not all \LaTeX\ authors know HTML5.


That's not to say people shouldn't learn to program, but some should still be able to express ideas digitally without having to worry about how to structure their ideas. That was the beauty of \TeX\ and \LaTeX, they provided a means to create beautiful published documents. The Art is where we can blend these two standards bodies; contributions like MathJAX, Backbone, Aura, and others can help people express their ideas by {\it providing higher levels of abstraction so the authors don't have to worry about the mechanisms by which the technology is rendering their works}. It is in these environments when people can express themselves freely. 


What is the Assembly Language of Digital Publishing?