Abstract :
Let´s start with two simple and very important facts. First, standards development has changed dramatically over the years. Its initial thrust was to allow manufacturers the ability to produce hardware faster and less expensively through standardized steps (economies of scale and all that). Next came the intent to standardize to increase market penetration (creation of a larger market and increased sales into the larger market). Now we use standards to reduce time to market by introducing new ideas and concepts into standardization first (witness the Web). Is this bad? I think not; it´s merely another way of making a technology usable and known to a larger and larger audience. In my opinion, standards are a discipline, and people tend to use a discipline for a myriad divergent reasons. The market (the users and the providers) will decide a standard´s fate-not a committee sitting in judgment
