The Importance of Open Standards
Here are 3 ways to explain the importance of open standards to non-techies.
- Imagine only being able to take your car to the place you bought it for service. I understand this is somewhat happening now with the advent of computerised cars to an extent that only the makers can fix them as the equipment to purchase to work on each individual makers' computer systems cost too much to make it worthwhile for independent mechanic's. I know this as my father was a mechanic and this is the reason why he couldn't [as an independant mechanic] afford to service new cars; only old ones.
- There are some companies now trying to make seeds for growing vegetable that dont allow for re-procuing and then put a patent on them. This is a result of a capitalist society we live in, but imagine if it came to that and we had some sort of catastrophe that left these makers unable to produce these fruits and vegetable ?? We, as regular "joes", could not grow our own food.
- There is an example of a 1904 fire in Baltimore. Firefighters were called in from all the surrounding states. But all they could do was stand and watch the building burn, because their firehoses would not fit on the fire hydrants. A standard fire hose coupler could have prevented much of the destruction.