Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked recently about the dreaded green bubble—the one that appears when you send a message to someone without, gasp, an iPhone running the proprietary iMessage app. But it’s worse than that. His questioner added, “I can’t send my mom certain videos and she can’t send me certain videos and so . . .” Mr. Cook interrupted with a chuckle and said, “Buy your mom an iPhone.” Corporate hubris usually proceeds a downfall.
Interoperability can make or break technology, and much is still broken. Many Google apps don’t work well on an iPhone. Why? Apple wants you to use its apps, interoperability be damned. The iPad only recently added support for a mouse, but it’s not good enough for iPads to replace Mac computers and laptops. Why? To protect Apple’s $35 billion Mac business. Users suffer. Technology has a long history of ignoring interoperability. America Online ran its business like a walled garden. More hubris that didn’t end well. It even had two messaging services, AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ (I seek you), that couldn’t send messages to each other until 2003.
In 1990 a judge ruled that competitors infringed Lotus Development’s copyright on its 1-2-3 spreadsheet’s command structure and keystrokes. But it turns out that file formats can’t be copyrighted or patented, allowing Microsoft Excel to read and write Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets. This interoperability was a boon to users, though in the end not so good for Lotus, as the company didn’t innovate enough beyond spreadsheets. To protect its Windows operating system, Microsoft was slow to embrace internet protocols like TCP/IP and mobile standards such as Bluetooth and lost its edge in both.
Standards matter. Think of road widths, gasoline mixtures and lights that don’t blind opposing drivers. The 120/220 volt electricity divide was fixed via sensors that allow travelers to use their computer and phone chargers universally, although with different plugs. AA batteries were introduced in 1907, standardized in 1947, AAA in 1911 and 1969. Cellphone standards were another benefit to users and keep evolving—6G isn’t coming until 2030 or so.
Which brings me to the Metaverse, an awful moniker for the nascent three-dimensional online world where we will eventually work, learn and play. I’d prefer names like the Hive or the Vortex (franchising opportunities available). Whatever we call it, there are no real standards for avatars, clothing, motion, weapons, speech or architecture.
To figure this out, Facebook aka Meta announced the purchase of Within, maker of virtual-reality fitness app Supernatural. Almost immediately, the Federal Trade Commission fought the purchase.
