Steve, good question - are we replicating? Let's relate that question to your perspective, which is exactly mine:

"... the cost-benefit equation.. to model data in a way that allows cost-effective generation of infra-structure (forms, query interfaces etc)."

We are probably "replicating" the directions in which we are looking (grammar/tree vs. graph), but this does not necessarily mean that what we see, looking in those directions, is a replication of what has been seen and said before. In fact, after reading the AOM paper (in response to your earlier suggestion) I feel that this is not the case.

Hans-Juergen