26 - Obsolescence

The never ending stream of new and more powerful software and hardware in the computer industry is often exemplified for how fast things change when not 'hampered' by standards, is to most users actually very frustrating. Anyone familiar with computer hardware and software knows the endless cycle of planned obsolescence common in the computer industry. New versions of software every two years or so, and you are forced to buy in order to read files with the new format. Likewise the new software requires more and more powerful processors and memory forcing purchase of new hardware. This can mean financial loss on equipment superseded by the latest-and-greatest model.

With standards this constant 'tweaking' disappears. Standards are updated when there is significant improvements to justify change, instead making giant leap of technical perfection every ten years or so.

Field device manufacturers are relived form man-machine interfaces like configuration and supervisory software. Software houses that are specialists on this can make these. The later are also relived from never ending development of communication driver for each and every protocol.