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Interesting news this week. Microsoft shows that money means you can push crap and don't even have to lie about it when you're caught.
Standards allow technology to flourish. From network protocols to DVD formats. Such vigor comes from everyone being able to participate equally. Microsoft wants everyone to use it's standard, but it also wants to maintain control. As a result, it's standards tend to suck.
OOXML is Microsoft's proposed "Open" standard for documents. There is another already accepted standard called Open Document Format (ODF) that Microsoft doesn't own, so they don't like it. Most non MS sources view their proposed standard as cumbersome and flawed. Yet it continues to fast track through standards bodies with approvals, in spite of major opposition.
This week in Sweden one of the tactics that makes this happen was revealed as the ballot box was blatantly stuffed. It's not unusual, they've done similar before. What is unusual is that the stink has forced a "do over" by the affected standards body. What's amazing is that Microsoft essentially said, yes we bought votes; so what?
In related news, there are two competing standards for next generation DVD formats; HD-DVD and the more esoterically named Blu-Ray. Last week Blu-Ray, a proprietary format wholly owned by Sony, took a hit as major names sided exclusively with the competition. This is good news for consumers; HD-DVD is not exclusively owned by anyone. One of it's backers is, however, Microsoft.
Seems that the HD-DVD consortium paid for the switch. Ok, it's not confirmed, though Microsoft, the most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not rule out payment but said it wrote no checks.
It's hard to know who do route for on the next gen DVD front. The simple fact is that regular DVDs provide most of what people want. The new ones have better quality, but also impose so many more restrictions ( read DRM ). Consumers are slow to adopt things that treat them like criminals, imagine that.
Funny how the media companies assume people are criminals, out to rip them off by any means. Perhaps there's a little transference going on?
Standards allow technology to flourish. From network protocols to DVD formats. Such vigor comes from everyone being able to participate equally. Microsoft wants everyone to use it's standard, but it also wants to maintain control. As a result, it's standards tend to suck.
OOXML is Microsoft's proposed "Open" standard for documents. There is another already accepted standard called Open Document Format (ODF) that Microsoft doesn't own, so they don't like it. Most non MS sources view their proposed standard as cumbersome and flawed. Yet it continues to fast track through standards bodies with approvals, in spite of major opposition.
This week in Sweden one of the tactics that makes this happen was revealed as the ballot box was blatantly stuffed. It's not unusual, they've done similar before. What is unusual is that the stink has forced a "do over" by the affected standards body. What's amazing is that Microsoft essentially said, yes we bought votes; so what?
In related news, there are two competing standards for next generation DVD formats; HD-DVD and the more esoterically named Blu-Ray. Last week Blu-Ray, a proprietary format wholly owned by Sony, took a hit as major names sided exclusively with the competition. This is good news for consumers; HD-DVD is not exclusively owned by anyone. One of it's backers is, however, Microsoft.
Seems that the HD-DVD consortium paid for the switch. Ok, it's not confirmed, though Microsoft, the most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not rule out payment but said it wrote no checks.
It's hard to know who do route for on the next gen DVD front. The simple fact is that regular DVDs provide most of what people want. The new ones have better quality, but also impose so many more restrictions ( read DRM ). Consumers are slow to adopt things that treat them like criminals, imagine that.
Funny how the media companies assume people are criminals, out to rip them off by any means. Perhaps there's a little transference going on?