4 ms·

100% agree! I am very angry that standards that were paid for by taxpayers around the world were then given by governments to the ISO who then charge for very

100% agree! I am very angry that standards that were paid for by taxpayers around the world were then given by governments to the ISO who then charge for very minimal work done afterwards. For example, BS3939 was created by the UK Government for electronic symbols and as far as I know, has not been updated since 1991 when an ISO document took it over. Why would they, therefore, be charging $250+ per copy for it? I think there should be a phrase like "immoral bureaucracy" which pertains to the extraordinary amount of money a quango burns through compared to what they actually produce. Since most ISO docs are produced by experts and not by the ISO themselves and since many of these do not change frequently, the cost is immoral imho.

lbriner 5y ago
JUst to correct my original comment, this example is actually the IEC, and is only around $100, and is not the ISO but I think the same argument stands!
unwind 5y ago
In case any other non-native speakers wonder about "quango" it seems to be from quasi-NGO [1], where of course NGO means a non-governmental organization. A new one for me! [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quango https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quango
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  I think that article is wrong; I think that acronym is of British origin, in the 80s, and it expanded as "Quasi-autonomous non-government organization" (which the article refers to as a "backronym"). That's the expansion I have always encountered since I first came across the acronym. "Quasi-NGO" doesn't have anything for the 'A' (OTOH, none of the expansions offers an explanation of the 'U', I guess) "Quasi" means "like", or "fake". It's the autonomy of a QUANGO that is fake, not its non-governmentalness.
PoignardAzur 5y ago
> I think there should be a phrase like "immoral bureaucracy" which pertains to the extraordinary amount of money a quango burns through compared to what they actually produce Rent-seeking?

lbriner 5y ago

JUst to correct my original comment, this example is actually the IEC, and is only around $100, and is not the ISO but I think the same argument stands!

unwind 5y ago

In case any other non-native speakers wonder about "quango" it seems to be from quasi-NGO [1], where of course NGO means a non-governmental organization. A new one for me! [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quango https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quango

denton-scratch 5y ago
I think that article is wrong; I think that acronym is of British origin, in the 80s, and it expanded as "Quasi-autonomous non-government organization" (which the article refers to as a "backronym"). That's the expansion I have always encountered since I first came across the acronym. "Quasi-NGO" doesn't have anything for the 'A' (OTOH, none of the expansions offers an explanation of the 'U', I guess) "Quasi" means "like", or "fake". It's the autonomy of a QUANGO that is fake, not its non-governmentalness.

PoignardAzur 5y ago

> I think there should be a phrase like "immoral bureaucracy" which pertains to the extraordinary amount of money a quango burns through compared to what they actually produce Rent-seeking?