In Reply to: You raise a very good point... posted by slope on March 25, 2004 at 15:55:59:
While they are essential in areas like safety and ergonomics, it's not so clear that they are always good in a broader sense.Sometimes standards facilitate innovation, in other cases they stifle it. The Internet is generally a perfect example of standards at work (without HTTP we wouldn't be talking...), but the key is that it is pretty open and extensible.
In many industries, the standards process is routinely manipulated for commercial gain, either by tilting standards towards a particular technology or slowing the adoption of competing products.
I think that common standards for equipment interconnection, and consistent implementation of those standards, would generally be good for the audio consumer. However, there is also a distinct risk that MANDATED standards would slow or stop genuine innovation.
Be careful what you wish for.
Peter
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Follow Ups
- Be careful of standards.... - Commuteman 16:45:59 03/26/04 (1)
- Re: Be careful of standards.... - Dan Banquer 18:00:13 03/26/04 (0)