This is the commercial computer world, maybe the most fast
paced, pressured competitive environment ever . These products
are evolving so rapidly, so headlong, that the development of
standards in a rational sense, or maybe better to say in a
planned manner, just doesn't happen. I recently read an article
in The Economist describing an economist's attempt to debug what
might be called the VHS/BETA myth, where an inferior standard
defeats a superior one out of sheer obtuseness of the consumer.
Companies come out daily with more features in their
hardware/software. With enough marketing muscle and enough
obvious advantage, and a lot of luck, these features become
standards. PCI, EDO, HTML, W95, it makes the head spin. So, if
Netscape has [temporarily] grabbed the golden ring, and makes a
good product besides, then not only does it make sense to go
along, but its sort of inevitable, at least in the short term.
Eric Siegel
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