Free and open standards win, again

Created by Stuart Yeates (University of Oxford) on November 23, 2006

USB has just been standardised as the new way for mobile phones to talk to extremely large SIM cards. USB won not because it was the best option, nor because it answered a burning need, nor because the big players wanted it; it looks like it won because it was patent free (unlike MMC, another contender) and open (allowing to be perceived as neutral). It still faces the battle of getting implemented, but I suspect that implementation costs will continue to drop as the cost and quality of the silicon designs to implement the the standard continue to fall, driven by the use of USB in other fields.

cheers stuart

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		Free and open standards win, again Created by Stuart Yeates (University of Oxford) on November 23, 2006 USB has just been standardised as the new way for mobile phones to talk to extremely large SIM cards. USB won not because it was the best option, nor because it answered a burning need, nor because the big players wanted it; it looks like it won because it was patent free (unlike MMC, another contender) and open (allowing to be perceived as neutral). It still faces the battle of getting implemented, but I suspect that implementation costs will continue to drop as the cost and quality of the silicon designs to implement the the standard continue to fall, driven by the use of USB in other fields. cheers stuart implementation costs \| mmc \| mobile phones \| Open Standards \| Patent \| Standards \| USB Stuart's blog Login or register to post comments 3546 reads
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