Re: [Leica] Kodak Focus now management hubris

[Mike Quinn <mlquinn.mail@earthlink.net>]

Sadly, it's just the other way.
PREVENTING standardization has been one of Microsoft's more successful
tactics.

They (and others) have worked diligently to prevent standards from being
adopted. IF standards are adopted, Microsoft prefers to ignore them and come
up with it's own (non-standard and undocumented) way to implement the
"standard". This guarantees that it will be difficult to read or modify
documents using other than Microsoft software.

(It would be like Kodak reaching an agreement with Leica to help them design
the film compartment for Leica cameras. With standardization, they'd also
publish the spec for the film cassette so anyone could make one to fit your
camera. Microsoft wouldn't do it that way. Instead they'd change the
cassette spec every time another film manufacturer figured out how to make
one fit. They'd then offer you a good deal on a upgrade to the new body with
the changed cassette. Eventually you'd buy only Kodak film, since the other
companies cassettes would cease to work properly whenever you upgraded. This
would give them a monopoly (because they were able to prevent
standardization). 

(Then again, this probably wouldn't work for Kodak. They'd forget they had a
monopoly and discontinue the film even if they had a monopoly on it...)

Afterswift@aol.com wrote:

> Gates contribution to the computer industry was standardization, which made
> using a computer more uniform.
> DOS and, later, Windows made it possible for most people to switch jobs and
> still have usable skills. It was what the Qwerty keyboard did for office
> workers at the turn of century and even how. However we dislike Gates, he
> established the protocols most of the industry still uses. Software and
> hardware outfits 
> could supply a uniform market and earn the margin to stay in business which
> MS's monopoly made possible. 

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