Normalisation & standardization... Une controverse...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardization:

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Effect on consumers

Standardization has a variety of benefits for consumers, but one of the greatest benefits is enhanced network effects. Standards increase compatibility and interoperability between products, allowing information to be shared within a larger network and attracting more consumers to use the new technology, further enhancing network effects.[16] Other benefits of standardization to consumers are reduced uncertainty, because consumers can be more certain that they are not choosing the wrong product, and reduced lock-in, because the standard makes it more likely that there will be competing products in the space.[17] Consumers may also get the benefit of being able to mix and match components of a system to align with their specific preferences.[18]

Probably the greatest downside of standardization for consumers is lack of variety. There is no guarantee that the chosen standard will meet all consumers' needs or even that the standard is the best available option.[18] Another downside is that if a standard is agreed upon before products are available in the market, then consumers are deprived of the penetration pricing that often results when rivals are competing to rapidly increase market share in an attempt to increase the likelihood that their product will become the standard.[18] It is also possible that a consumer will choose a product based upon a standard that fails to become dominant.[19] In this case, the consumer will have spent resources on a product that is ultimately less useful to him or her as the result of the standardization process.

Effect on technology

Much like the effect on consumers, the effect of standardization on technology and innovation is mixed. Increased adoption of a new technology as a result of standardization is important because rival and incompatible approaches competing in the marketplace can slow or even kill the growth of the technology.[20] The shift to a modularized architecture as a result of standardization brings increased flexibility, rapid introduction of new products, and the ability to more closely meet individual customer's needs.[21]

The negative effects of standardization on technology have to do with its tendency to restrict new technology and innovation. Standards shift competition from features to price because the features are defined by the standard. The degree to which this is true depends on the specificity of the standard.[22] Standardization in an area also rules out alternative technologies as options while encouraging others.[23]

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[23] Cowan, Robin. "High Technology and the Economics of Standardization." Paper presented at the International Conference on Social and Institutional Factors Shaping Technological Development: Technology at the Outset, Berlin, Germany, May 27–28, 1991. p. 12

P.s: Et la page en langue française?