Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!rutgers!gatech!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!execu!dewey
From: dewey@execu.UUCP (Dewey Henize)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: Standards/Trailblazer Discussion
Message-ID: <252@execu.UUCP>
Date: 4 Aug 88 03:44:22 GMT
References: <7805@cup.portal.com> <5312@bigtex.uucp>
Reply-To: dewey@execu.UUCP (Dewey Henize)
Organization: Execucom Systems Corp., Austin, Texas
Lines: 35

In his comments about Telebit, James made some good points about how they
(Telebit) are basically bypassing the 'normal' committee route for setting
standards and are instead letting the marketplace 'vote' with it's bucks.

I couldn't agree more that that is what is going on in this case.  I would
like to make a friendly note here, though, that this is not the way it will
always go.  I believe that we have a situation here were technology and
pricing simply got way ahead of the committee types, so we get a chance to
vote-by-buck.  (I happen to like this particular case).  I don't think you
will be able to generalize this, though, since there are an awfully lot of
situations where the standards committees don't have the market pressure
to make an end-run around them, and thus the committee types get a chance
to make up stuff, write many and varied learned papers about each others
learned papers, and basically do a million things to make it appear the
'standard' is an accomplished fact - when it sometimes no longer even applies
to the current world.

Look at all the huhu about standard COBOL (ugh) and FORTRAN.  These folks
are still fighting it out, over and over.  There is hardly any COBOL or
FORTRAN out there though is simply meets standards - because that isn't 
enough.

Telebit might have it right, in the ad I saw recently.  Something like
'the only Unix (tm) modem'....

Dewey

P. S. - we have ordered a couple, haven't got em yet.  I am NOT an employee
of Telebit, or anyone other than Execucom.....  Just adding an observation.

-- 
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|      execu!dewey  Dewey Henize @ Execucom Systems Corp 512/346-3008         |
|    You don't think my employer APPROVES of these ideas, do you??  Sheesh!   |
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