BG> Rockwell and Lucent (sp?) Technologies will apparently be offering 56k
 BG> protocols which are purportedly 100% compatible with each other, but
 BG> (as usual), USR have rather stupidly decided to go it alone with x2,
 BG> which is compatible with absolutely nothing else whatsoever.

 JP> In that case, I see no reason to upgrade to the x2
 JP> technology it if is not compatible with anything else.

?  Neither is Rockwell's new technology 'compatible with anything else'. 
In all development of new technologies, only would-be clone makers play
'follow the leader'.  That's not much use to developmemt; we'd be stuck
with v.fc if many companies had not worked towards developing international
standards.

 JP> Is USRobotics trying to form a boys' club on this one,
 JP> because it certainly seems that way. Why point is there in
 JP> having x2 if nobody else supports it?

Same can be said of Rockwell's, exactly.  Think back over how long it took
more than a dozen manufacturers to develop different bits of what became
V.34.  Leading edge development is _by nature_ inventing non-clone
technologies, no?

Ian

--- MaltEd 1.0.b5