Page 1 - 2102

“Members Helping Members”

February 2021 Volume 41, Issue 08

Why Can’t Standards be Standard?

By Greg Skalka

Part of what makes our technology work so well is that it
follows standards. There are both rules established and
items held up as an example in common use. All of our
electronic means of communication are successful only
because of standards. Without accepted rules for opera-
tion, cell phone calls wouldn’t connect, and text messag-
ing wouldn’t work. Without established standards for in-
terfaces like USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi – even 120VAC power
– we would not have the tech capabilities we enjoy to-
day.

That does not mean that everything must be done in the
same way. Innovation is often the result of new methods
being introduced; if these prove beneficial and become
popular, they can become the new “standard” for use. differences. Manufacturers need differentiating factors
Sometimes multiple factions will solve the same problem and features to be able to gain market share over some-
or provide the same basic capability in different but in- thing other than price. Companies will often litigate with
compatible ways. Remember the VHS vs. Betamax vide- competitors that “copy” their key attributes. This usually
otape war of the 1980s? Even though both followed forces multiple standards on the marketplace, as with
standards, VHS eventually proved to be more popular Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s MAC, or Apple’s iPh-
and became the usage standard, forcing Sony to aban- one and Android phones. This can also result in different
don the production of Betamax. These battles to become interchange formats between competing device families.
the popular standard can improve the technology availa- Fortunately, in most cases, the basic governing stand-
ble, but they also cause grief for the user that found their ards within product types are still followed by all compet-
adopted version became the loser. ing vendors. You may not be able to use Facetime on an
Android phone, but at least it can call and text with an
iPhone. It is bad enough that few accessories are inter-
Unfortunately, while some tech changes have merit, oth- changeable between Apple and Windows computers;
ers appear to be changed for the sake of change. Some imagine if you couldn’t send an email between them?
changes to long-held ways of doing things seem to be for
the benefit of tech companies (and their ability to market
and sell new products), rather than tech users. User in- The interchange of files between tech camps can be a
terfaces are especially susceptible to the change for mar- tricky problem. Fortunately, there are some formats, like
keting’s sake syndrome. I am so tired of Microsoft Office PDF (Portable Document Format) that are universally
changing their user interfaces while providing little sub- supported and recognized on all platforms, be they com-
stantive or beneficial change. puters, tablets, or smartphones. Most Microsoft Office
files are at least viewable on most platforms. Many image
and video file formats are easily interchangeable, but
Sometimes it is the competition that forces there to be
(Continued on page 5)

February 2021 1