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Hardware designer and manufacturer, SparkFun, has a short biography about computer engineer Ajay Bhatt who is widely recognized as one of the key inventors of the Universal Serial Bus (USB).
Once the design was finalized, Bhatt and his team worked with other technology companies to promote and standardize the USB. They formed a working group called the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) to develop the USB specification, which was first introduced in 1996.
The USB specification quickly gained widespread adoption in the technology industry due to its convenience and versatility, and new versions of the standard were introduced over the years to improve data transfer speeds, power management, and other features. Today, the USB is used in a wide range of devices, and it continues to evolve and improve with each new iteration.
When Intel initially developed the USB, it held the patents for the technology, which allowed the company to control the standard and charge licensing fees for its use. However, Intel soon realized that its proprietary approach was not in the best interests of the industry or consumers. The company recognized that the success of the USB depended on its widespread adoption and interoperability with different devices, which would not be possible if licensing fees were required for every use.
In response, Intel took a bold step and transferred ownership of the USB specifications to a non-profit organization called the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). The USB-IF is a group of companies that work together to promote and develop the USB standard, with the goal of ensuring that the standard remains open and accessible to all.
Intel's decision to transfer ownership of the USB specifications to the USB-IF was a pivotal moment in the development of the USB standard. It helped to ensure that the USB became a truly universal and open interface, which has had a profound impact on the computer industry and consumers around the world. Today, the USB is used in a wide range of devices, from computers and smartphones to home appliances and automotive systems, and it continues to evolve and improve to meet the needs of an ever-changing technological landscape.
Previously:
(2022) Henn Tan and the Invention of the USB Thumb Drive in Singapore
(2022) Linux Fu: Eavesdropping On Serial
(Score: 5, Insightful) by canopic jug on Saturday May 13, @05:24PM (4 children)
USB was in their best interest, and at the same time in the best interest of the end-users. It is just another success story for the strength and utility of open standards. USB would have died on the vine had it stayed proprietary. Everyone sees that, if they think about it, but it has become too common and familiar for people to see it for what it is any more.
The world has gotten jaded and begun in recent decades to forget the importance of open standards. The WWW and the Internet have been poster children for the benefits of open standards. However, what with all the proprietary networks belonging to at least a generation past and the role of open standards has begun to be forgotten. Networking standards are the most obvious in some ways but there are many more that we have been taking for granted, such as USB, and thus the points made in the fine article. Because the open standards have been taken for granted, proprietary specifications and patent-encumbered standards have been allowed to spread again. Been there, done that. We don't need a new proliferation of closed formats or closed specification.
Despite the ignorant push towards proprietary of late, open standards are still quite common and, because of that push, needed all the more: Cloud-based software is the next big threat to independence and sovereignty. Through software as a service, hostile companies are able to capture not just the format wrapping your data but your data itself. The way out is not just self-hosting but self-hosting with open formats. Otherwise the end game will be down the path of paying ever-increasing subscription fees to stave off the threat of having your own files deleted -- a month at a time.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Saturday May 13, @09:25PM (3 children)
Your post is insightful, but then you end with cloud software. The cloud domain is absolutely teeming with open standards. Almost all, if not all, cloud technologies have both open API standards and FOSS implementations. Kubernetes, Docker, OCI, Knative, Cilium, etc. Even provider-specific configuration APIs are standardized through FOSS tools like Terraform.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by canopic jug on Sunday May 14, @05:16AM (2 children)
I stand by what I wrote in the lines about "Cloud" and would point out what's actually on the market as far as both Software As A Service (SAAS) and Infrastructure As A Service (IAAS) go: Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iDrive, and more. The options deployed against us are all pernicious in a way that looks traditional closed source, proprietary systems and software look almost benign in comparison.
Remember that SAAS and IAAS are not just about control and lock down of the software but of your own data, too. At least a proprietary format for files in your own physical possession might theoretically be reverse engineered and eventually made accessible without the proprietary programs (e.g. M$ Office many formats). However, if your data resides on a remote server, the owners of that server can do what they want with that data and make you dance to access it. CFAA and other heinous regulations would send your ass to jail indefinitely if you tried in anyway to go around the gatekeepers to access your own data held there.
The Stockholm Syndrome will eventually kick in and everyone will eventually lower their expectations and become fine with subscriptions to access their own data. But in the mean time while there is a window of opportunity, go and ask the chumps what they think of Adobe's SAAS subscription compared to the old stand-alone suite, or ask different chumps about what they think about having to use M$ SAAS offerings as compared to having to use the old stand-alone suites.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 14, @11:37AM (1 child)
> ... or ask different chumps about what they think about having to use M$ SAAS offerings as compared to having to use the old stand-alone suites.
I wouldn't know, still using MS-Office 97 -- with a little messing around it still works fine under Win 7. Bonus, it's blazing fast on newer hardware. Since I used that version of Word to write/edit a couple of books (with equations, figures, tables) I'm pretty familiar with the bugs and work-arounds. Why would I want to update and then have to learn a bunch of new work-arounds, new UI, etc?
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Sunday May 14, @11:49AM
Why would I want to update and then have to learn a bunch of new work-arounds, new UI, etc?
You might not want to buy the new version but you would be forced to on the occasion you need to work with the new document formats, assuming you have not already been running LibreOffice parallel to MSO. M$ has used and still uses arbitrary changes to its undocumented, proprietary formats to drive new sales such that if you need to interoperate with the new formats, you'll need LibreOffice at least. But M$ is really betting against that and expecting that you'll just shell out for a newer version just to get at those files. Further, they are betting that you won't think about what you are getting into when you get the "cloud" version and start keeping your files not only logically locked in their formats but physically locked in their (underutilized) server farms.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.