Charlie Gibbs  wrote:
> On 2017-04-03, Michael J  Mahon  wrote:
>
>> Standards can be either _de jure_ or _ad hoc_, based on market dominance.
>
> The terms I've heard are _de jure_ vs. _de facto_.

Me, too--my mistake.

>> Networking is a kind of special case, since its essential value is in
>> direct (or even quadratic) proportion to its interoperability.
>>
>> Sometimes by virtue of utility or priority a particular technology achieves
>> market dominance and resultant _ad hoc_ standardization--the "waterhole
>> effect".
>>
>> In other cases, multiple comparable competing technologies battle to a
>> stalemate or continuing fragmentation. In such cases, a _de jure_ selection
>> can provide real value to providers and consumers alike.
>
> Otherwise, we have to wait for several years until one standard finally
> wins out, e.g. VHS over Beta.

Yes, and the longer it takes, the more the loss/inconvenience for users who
had to make a choice and guessed wrong...

When progress causes standards in a market to change often, the costs also
soar. (It'll be a long time before I transition all my DVDs.  I may wind up
skipping Blu-Ray entirely.  ;-)

--
-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II:  http://michaeljmahon.com

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