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Unification standards
Computer Standards & Interfaces 14 (1992) 91 North-ttolland
91
Editorial
Unification standards This week, the second week of 1992, brings reminders that 1992 marks the final actions to unify the European Economic Community into a vital and powerful new economic entity. It also brings news of a crucial breakdown in progress towards a General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), and the likelihood of aggrieved nations reacting with defensive 'protective' barriers which will lead to more and more barriers. Information technologists, surveying this scene from their unique vantage point, must wonder if the 'natural' convergence of computing and telecommunication technologies will slow in order to suit the plans or fit the tactics of the various negotiators. Can our national and regional bureaucrats actually hinder the flow of information or the progress of technology with their actions? I think not. Some writers have credited the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe to the photocopier, the facsimile machine, the video tape machine, the $5 A M / F M / S W radio, borderless television broadcasts, and ubiquitous television receivers. Clearly, military technology played no central role. Time magazine's Man-of-the-Year award acknowledges technology's ability to show anyone on their TV screen any event anywhere on Earth - and further. A recent writer suggested changing the m e t a p h o r of information flow from that of a pipe to an aquifer. A pipe m e t a p h o r suggests for information such concepts as channeling, controlling,
and shut-off valves. An aquifer is a subsurface stratum of permeable material between impermeable strata through which water flows. Water enters broadly and uncontrollably. Its flow, while deterministic, permits no easy determination. When tapped, the pressure of the flow may challenge the intention of the tapper. And frequently, the flow reaches the surface without the aid of man. Information technologists work with the flow of information when they develop standards. An interface implies that differences exist on both sides of the interface, but the interface determines the place to resolve these differences. Standardization provides a method to reduce the number of potential interfaces. Older members of our profession will r e m e m b e r U N C O L , the UNiversal COmpiler Language which, in theory, would provide the intermediate language to which, and from which, all compiler languages could convert. The benefit was mathematically explicit: if M languages were required, the need for only 2 M interfaces conversions (and UNCOL, of course) would consume much less of scarce resources for interface conversions than would the M 2 required without UNCOL. In a nutshell, we see the value of computer standards and interfaces. Information technologists have an important and unfinished task which benefits us all. Standardization must continue in order to reduce the cost of the inevitable information interfaces that await us in the future.
0920-5489/92/$05.00 © 1992 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved
John L. Berg Editor-in-Chief
91
Editorial
Unification standards This week, the second week of 1992, brings reminders that 1992 marks the final actions to unify the European Economic Community into a vital and powerful new economic entity. It also brings news of a crucial breakdown in progress towards a General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), and the likelihood of aggrieved nations reacting with defensive 'protective' barriers which will lead to more and more barriers. Information technologists, surveying this scene from their unique vantage point, must wonder if the 'natural' convergence of computing and telecommunication technologies will slow in order to suit the plans or fit the tactics of the various negotiators. Can our national and regional bureaucrats actually hinder the flow of information or the progress of technology with their actions? I think not. Some writers have credited the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe to the photocopier, the facsimile machine, the video tape machine, the $5 A M / F M / S W radio, borderless television broadcasts, and ubiquitous television receivers. Clearly, military technology played no central role. Time magazine's Man-of-the-Year award acknowledges technology's ability to show anyone on their TV screen any event anywhere on Earth - and further. A recent writer suggested changing the m e t a p h o r of information flow from that of a pipe to an aquifer. A pipe m e t a p h o r suggests for information such concepts as channeling, controlling,
and shut-off valves. An aquifer is a subsurface stratum of permeable material between impermeable strata through which water flows. Water enters broadly and uncontrollably. Its flow, while deterministic, permits no easy determination. When tapped, the pressure of the flow may challenge the intention of the tapper. And frequently, the flow reaches the surface without the aid of man. Information technologists work with the flow of information when they develop standards. An interface implies that differences exist on both sides of the interface, but the interface determines the place to resolve these differences. Standardization provides a method to reduce the number of potential interfaces. Older members of our profession will r e m e m b e r U N C O L , the UNiversal COmpiler Language which, in theory, would provide the intermediate language to which, and from which, all compiler languages could convert. The benefit was mathematically explicit: if M languages were required, the need for only 2 M interfaces conversions (and UNCOL, of course) would consume much less of scarce resources for interface conversions than would the M 2 required without UNCOL. In a nutshell, we see the value of computer standards and interfaces. Information technologists have an important and unfinished task which benefits us all. Standardization must continue in order to reduce the cost of the inevitable information interfaces that await us in the future.
0920-5489/92/$05.00 © 1992 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved
John L. Berg Editor-in-Chief