CDOs, Stop Waiting for Global Standards

Conforming to standards is a best practice, but it can slap limits on potential profits. Owning the intellectual property rights to a desirable standard is typically viewed as a goldmine.

One example: the unwieldy 30-pin iPod dock connector, which looked like a miniature version of the venerable SCSI connector. “Apple's proprietary 30-pin connector was common to most Apple mobile devices...from its introduction with the 3rd generation iPod classic in 2003 until the Lightning connector was released in late 2012.”

The connector offered plenty of options. “Originally, the Apple dock connector carried USB, FireWire, some controls and line-level audio outputs,” says Wikipedia. And according to blogger and boffin Darell Tan, the cable also contained “an authentication chip to allow only authorized docks and cables to receive video out (including audio). Soon enough, China caught up with their release of 'authorized' accessories, which contain the authentication chip that can be re-purposed for other use.”

As the iPod was a hot commodity in the early 2000s, manufacturers of audio add-ons (powered speakers, etc.) wanted to add the 30-pin dock to their devices. Which they were allowed to do as long as they compensated Apple for the privilege. Associated fees were colloquially known as the “Apple tax” and earned more than a few pennies for intellectual services rendered.

It's a classic example of a proprietary-yet-popular standard. Apple then switched to the 8-pin Lightning connector, which is still used in their portable devices.

A right Royale-with-cheese standards mismatch

But the E.U. recently mandated that smartphones within the Eurozone standardize on USB-C. The rationale is explained in a press release from the European Parliament: “By autumn 2024, USB Type-C will become the common charging port for all mobile phones, tablets, and cameras in the E.U.”

“These new obligations will lead to more re-use of chargers and will help consumers save up to EUR250 million a year on unnecessary charger purchases,” said the release. “Disposed of and unused chargers are estimated to represent about 11,000 tonnes of e-waste annually.”

The E.U. is taking a stand: best practices and standards benefit consumers and the environment, and it's up to manufacturers to comply.

What could go wrong?

Adherence to competing standards is a practice fraught with peril. For example, although most of the planet uses the International System of Units (SI, better known as the metric system), most measures in the U.S. default to the imperial system (also known as the British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826). While this contrarian attitude has spawned pop culture jokes (actor John Travolta rejuvenated his career by introducing movie fans to the “Royale with Cheese”), it also led to spectacular failure within the U.S. space program.

It's a tangled tale. “The Mars Climate Orbiter...was a 638-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on December 11, 1998,” says Wikipedia. “However, on September 23, 1999, communication with the spacecraft was permanently lost as it went into orbital insertion.”

The problem? A right Royale-with-cheese standards mismatch. “NASA and other organizations applied metric units in their work, but one subcontractor, Lockheed Martin, provided software that calculated and reported thruster performance data to the team in pound-force-seconds, rather than the expected newton-seconds.”

“The spacecraft was intended to orbit Mars at about 150 kilometers (93 mi) altitude, but incorrect data caused it to descend instead to about 57 kilometers (35 mi), burning up in the Martian atmosphere...at this altitude, the spacecraft would likely have skipped violently off the denser-than-expected atmosphere, and it was either destroyed in the atmosphere or re-entered heliocentric space.”

Adherence to competing standards is a practice fraught with peril

“According to NASA, the cost of the mission was USD327.6 million (USD494.84 million in 2020) total for the orbiter and lander.” Oops.

The E.U. acted in the interests of its citizens regardless of the profit motive, which begs the question: why doesn't the U.S. utilize the international standard? After all, had the cited software used “the expected newton-seconds,” the spacecraft might be happily orbiting rather than rudely flung into space or torched in the Martian atmosphere.

Centuries of futility

Ironically as metric is decimal-centric, the U.S. was one of the first nations to adopt a decimal currency — under the Coinage Act of 1792, which created the U.S. dollar as the country's standard unit of money centuries before former colonizing power Britain adopted its decimal currency. But metrication was stymied.

“In 1793, [future US president] Thomas Jefferson requested artifacts from France that could be used to adopt the metric system in the United States,” and [French botanist] Joseph Dombey was sent from France with a standard kilogram. Before reaching the United States, Dombey's ship was blown off course by a storm and captured by pirates.”

Fast forward 182 years to the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, which "declared the metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce," and “established the United States Metric Board with representatives from scientific, technical, and educational institutions, as well as state and local governments to plan, coordinate, and educate the U.S. people for the Metrication of the United States.”

The Metric Board didn't last long, as it was abolished in 1982 by then-US president Ronald Reagan. “In 1982, Reagan effectively dismantled the metrication effort by stripping funding from the Metric Board,” says a blog post on Politifact. “The group morphed into the Office of Metric Programs, under the Department of Commerce, with much less responsibility and less than a fifth of the budget...the Reagan administration justified the Metric Board cut as part of a general reduction in federal spending.”

The key takeaway for CDOs is don't count on vendors or governments to mandate standards for your organization. To conform to standards as a best practice, you and your team are the critical arbiters.

Stefan Hammond is a contributing editor to CDOTrends. Best practices, the IoT, payment gateways, robotics and the ongoing battle against cyberpirates pique his interest. You can reach him at [email protected].

Image credit: iStockphoto/Supersmario