"If all that stuff worked right out of the box, we'd all be out of a job," said David Strom I'm not sure if this argument is used to support monopolies (via fu

"If all that stuff worked right out of the box, we'd all be out of a job," said David Strom I'm not sure if this argument is used to support monopolies (via fueling the IT industry), but if it is, it's ludicrous. It's like saying that companies insuring against vandalism should thank the vandals. I do not see "fixing MS bugs"-companies as organic to the IT industry. Sure, more people are employed, but it does not create innovation, it does not contribute to the growth of the essence of the IT industry (different from the GDP resulting from the IT industry). All of these problems are traceable to a lack of widely supported standards. Pointing to a lack of standards to explain some of today's annoyances (MP3 compatibility, sync issues, etc.) is correct. However, linking the lack of standards with a lack of monopoly in those areas is wrong. I see soft anti-trust policies (in the case of DRM) or lack of motivation for creating standards-making bodies as more interesting causes. Diversity is not incompatible with the existence of common standards. Let's think of all web apps out there, offering competing products, all using HTTP.