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That sort of industry gets regulated because letting people build multiple incompatible networks is an extremely expensive thing to do. The railways often buil

That sort of industry gets regulated because letting people build multiple incompatible networks is an extremely expensive thing to do. The railways often built incompatible tracks, signaling systems, and so forth, which was a problem nation's still struggle with. Power companies created incompatible systems. Japan is famous for running on two incompatible electrical grids to this day.

WalterBright 2y ago
There are enormous economic forces that push for standardization. For example, your keyboard is likely connected via USB. USB isn't a government standard. Neither is Standard C. And endless other things that the market standardized. Even 2*4 lumber is standardized. Gasoline is standardized. And so on. > Power companies created incompatible systems. They're usually granted government monopolies.
- nitwit005 2y ago
  And yet somehow those incompatible telephone systems, rail systems, power systems, and everything else all came into existence. USB is widely highlighted as an unusual success. But Apple has notably created their own incompatible connectors, and made money that way, which is why Europe is busy forcing a charging standard. Gasoline is very obviously government regulated. 2 by 4s are only sort of standardized.
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    > Gasoline is very obviously government regulated. The chemical makeup of it? The government banned tetra ethyl lead in it, and mandated some ethanol in it, but the rest is various mixes made by the gas companies. > 2 by 4s are only sort of standardized. I've bought 2 by 4s for most of my life. They're a standard size.
    - anticensor 2y ago
      > The chemical makeup of it? The government banned tetra ethyl lead in it, and mandated some ethanol in it, but the rest is various mixes made by the gas companies. There's a mil-spec gasoline that has to contain exact proportions of specific alkanes and ethanol to very tight tolerances, that could be taken as the golden standard gasoline.
- sudosysgen 2y ago
  Ever since the iPhone, USB stopped being an actual standard to connect accessories to computers, until it became a (EU) government standard. It is actually a great example to the opposite. The history of USB as a connector is of a direct consequence of the IBM PC, itself a standard. The only reason USB became a widespread standard is that there was a widespread standard computer and, as we see today with many other forms of computers, that is largely an accident : smartphones do not have a widespread standard, neither do gaming consoles, etc...
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    The IBM PC was never a government standard.
    - sudosysgen 2y ago
      I never claimed as much. The IBM PC was a short-lived accidental scandal that IBM didn't fully intend, but couldn't stop when they failed to sue clean-room BIOSes out of existence. Only because of this was USB possible, and even then only for 10 years before it stopped being really universal, until the EU stepped in.

WalterBright 2y ago

There are enormous economic forces that push for standardization. For example, your keyboard is likely connected via USB. USB isn't a government standard. Neither is Standard C. And endless other things that the market standardized. Even 2*4 lumber is standardized. Gasoline is standardized. And so on. > Power companies created incompatible systems. They're usually granted government monopolies.

nitwit005 2y ago
And yet somehow those incompatible telephone systems, rail systems, power systems, and everything else all came into existence. USB is widely highlighted as an unusual success. But Apple has notably created their own incompatible connectors, and made money that way, which is why Europe is busy forcing a charging standard. Gasoline is very obviously government regulated. 2 by 4s are only sort of standardized.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  > Gasoline is very obviously government regulated. The chemical makeup of it? The government banned tetra ethyl lead in it, and mandated some ethanol in it, but the rest is various mixes made by the gas companies. > 2 by 4s are only sort of standardized. I've bought 2 by 4s for most of my life. They're a standard size.
  - anticensor 2y ago
    > The chemical makeup of it? The government banned tetra ethyl lead in it, and mandated some ethanol in it, but the rest is various mixes made by the gas companies. There's a mil-spec gasoline that has to contain exact proportions of specific alkanes and ethanol to very tight tolerances, that could be taken as the golden standard gasoline.
sudosysgen 2y ago
Ever since the iPhone, USB stopped being an actual standard to connect accessories to computers, until it became a (EU) government standard. It is actually a great example to the opposite. The history of USB as a connector is of a direct consequence of the IBM PC, itself a standard. The only reason USB became a widespread standard is that there was a widespread standard computer and, as we see today with many other forms of computers, that is largely an accident : smartphones do not have a widespread standard, neither do gaming consoles, etc...
- WalterBright 2y ago
  The IBM PC was never a government standard.
  - sudosysgen 2y ago
    I never claimed as much. The IBM PC was a short-lived accidental scandal that IBM didn't fully intend, but couldn't stop when they failed to sue clean-room BIOSes out of existence. Only because of this was USB possible, and even then only for 10 years before it stopped being really universal, until the EU stepped in.