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There were always boxes, but I think the real game changer was standardizing the size and other properties of the box, across the planet.



Absolutely - standardisation is the path to ubiquity. From the screw thread to the accidental standard (ISA) of the IBM PC.

It removes many of the barriers to competition and reduces the risk of large players creating monopolies.

I think it’s fair to say that much of what we see in tech is deliberately engineered to avoid standardisation in order to protect competitive advantage.

Wired did an interesting article on standardisation years ago.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.wired.com/2002/01/standar...




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