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Standardize This! 10 Technology Messes That Need Fixing
Enough with bickering cell phone technologies, messaging systems that won’t talk, incompatible file formats, and TV remotes that spread like kudzu across your coffee table. We’ve been dealing with some of these problems for more than a decade, and it’s time for things to improve.
Here are ten technologies that cry out for standardization–tomorrow if possible, though yesterday would be even better.
What tech do you want to see standardized? Post your thoughts in the comments below.
1. One World, One Plug
Over the years I’ve used hundreds of chargers, plugs, AC/DC adapters, power bricks, and wall warts for my laptops, cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, GPS units, and other gadgets. No two were interchangeable. It’s not merely stupid, it’s a landfill nightmare.
USB-based AC adapters are a step forward, but you still have to deal with six kinds of USB connectors. If your camera uses a Mini-A USB charger and your smart phone is Micro-B, you’re just as stranded as if they used completely unrelated chargers. You may be able to buy a “universal” charger that lets you plug in a laptop and other devices, but only if the vendor supplies adapters designed for your particular gadgets. What a pain.
What the world needs now isn’t love sweet love–it’s a power adapter that works with every portable device. Last year, most of the big handset makers agreed to standardize on Micro-USB chargers by 2012. (The most prominent exception? Apple, of course.) For the past three years, groups like Green Plug have been lobbying consumer electronics companies to adopt a single plug standard, but so far they have little to show for their efforts. You can add your voice to the chorus at the I Want My Green Plug site.
2. A Real Universal Remote
Like everyone I know, I have a basket crowded with remotes (including several not-so-universal “universal” ones) on my coffee table. All of them do more or less the same thing, but each one is slightly different. Does every TV, DVD, DVR, set-top box, and stereo manufacturer really need to redesign the wheel?
We need one remote that controls everything and doesn’t require a 45-minute video tutorial, tedious trial-and-error experimentation, memory-hogging software, constant updating, or the services of a Home A/V specialist. That, or maybe Project Natal-like gesture recognition, so we can just wave our hands to control our A/V gear. Even better: brain implants. That way my wife and I can fight over what to watch without having to speak to each other.
3. Virtual Instruments That Rock Around the Clock
When I’m down for a virtual gig–whether I’m due to play Rock Band on the Xbox 360 or Guitar Hero III on the PS3–I want to be able to strap on my ax and go. Sadly, only a handful of guitars and drum kits work across multiple rhythm-game titles on a single console system (see this confusing chart for details–or this one, or this one). The good news? The situation is steadily improving, as Harmonix and Activision belatedly recognize the folly of playing battle of the band instruments.
Looking for virtual instruments that span not only the games but all the consoles? Shine on, you crazy diamond. You might as well wait for the Beatles to reunite.
4. A Single Data-File Format
Cross-platform compatibility? Feh. Mac and Windows PCs have coexisted for a quarter of a century, and yet people still have problems moving files between them–and that’s without the commplications presented by Linux and other computing platforms. Want to move data between different types of applications or open a file stored in an older format? You’ll have better luck printing it out and retyping it.
Most of the 1000+ file formats that now exist are native to a single application. We need a single editable format that all platforms can display accurately (and with full formatting) and that the user can move easily between applications. No tedious file conversions, no mystery fonts, no deciding which arcane ASCII character set to use. Just save it, send it, and open it–and no surprises inside the box.
For the past four years, the OpenDocument Format Alliance has been promoting an XML-based format that makes Office Suite documents accessible across platforms and applications. ODF enjoys endorsements from international governments and support in products like Google Docs and Open Office. But until Microsoft beefs up its support for ODF, that movement isn’t going anywhere.
5. Smarter Smartphone Batteries (and Keyboards)
If your flashlight runs out of juice, you can pop down to the local Kwik-E-Mart and get some C batteries. If your TV remote conks out, Apu will happily sell you some AAs. But when your cell phone battery expires, you have to contact your handset manufacturer or carrier to get a replacement. Worse, you can’t swap batteries between different handsets. Are individual cell phone models really so special that each requires its own battery technology?
The IEEE’s Cell Phone Battery Working Group is set to hold its first meeting this month, primarily to improve battery life and to devise standardized packaging for smartphones, but maybe they’ll seize the opportunity to address interoperability, too. Unfortunayely, considering the pace at which the IEEE usually ratifies standards, cell phone brain implants are likely to come sooner than a single-battery standard.
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