Strategic Computing and Communications Technology Group H: Standards Final Report
Standardization is an enabling concept. Almost all of the issues surrounding the acceptance of new communications and computer technologies depend on -- or assume the existence of -- set standards. Some forms of regulation are simply the enforcement of specific standards. Superior user interface design relies on the standard appearance and behavior of applications. Horizontal integration of the technology industry is entirely based on the standards which exist at the interfaces between technology layers. Standards also allow firms to lock in their customers.
Each of these issues is explored below.
Many forms of government regulation protect or benefit the consumer by governing corporate behavior. For example, the government requires that local telephone monopolies provide universal service in their coverage areas. Other forms work through imposition of a standard. By requiring the use of a specific standard, the government protects consumers from a confusing marketplace by settling questions of interoperability. This, in turn, promotes industry: firms can bring their products, both primary and complimentary, to market without fear.
A good example is the new U.S High-Definition Television (HDTV) standard. Earlier this year, the FCC settled on a standard for HDTV signals. Soon, HDTV sets and recorders will be available and consumers can purchase them knowing they will be able to receive HDTV broadcasts anywhere in the U.S.
Their can be the opposite effect, though. The government mus be vigilant that they do not retard the development of new technologies, nor retard its introduction to the market, by too strongly regulating the standards that may be used.
Standards play an important role here, too. While most human factors study involves design for usability, HF designers must also design to a user's expectations. Users of Windows-compatible sofware expect a "File" menu in the upper left hand corner of every application window. Telephone dialers expect the digit 1 to be in the top left corners; calculator users expect 1 to be toward the bottom left. Such standards are somewhat arbitary in design but must be consistent in implementation.
Standards are at the very heart of this issue. When the computer and communications industries were vertically integrated, each manufacturer could use its own protocols for communication among its systems' parts. Today, the industry has moved to a horizontal model as users have come to demand independence from single suppliers. This is made possible by the agreement of suppliers on standards for communication among subsystems.
A web-browsing system illustrates this concept. Netscape Navigator, a web browser, uses published API calls to request services from an operating system. The OS, in turn, uses a different API to talk to its "network stack." That software then communicates with network hardware which then follows electrical standards to pass a signal along a network cable. Each of these components is likely supplied by a different vendor and each uses standard ways of communicating with the layers above and below it.
Many firms rely on standards to lock in their customers. Micosoft, for example, derives much of its revenue from upgraders, those who buy the newest version of an application they are already using. Many of these buyers simply believe that Microsoft applications are superior. But vast majority are simply dependent of Microsoft because they have a large investment (work completed, files, other software) that requires the contimued use of Microsoft products.
These are but a few examples of issues in which standards play a part. They are basic to most others as well.