Without open standards, we would need to pick a browser and provide for it.
If we needed to support another browser we'd need to provide a new solution built to its specification.
Open standards have allowed the possibility of multiple browser vendors, without making the life of browser consumers (i.e. developers and organisations providing apps and sites) a living hell.
Without this, we'd be providing apps and sites for a proprietary system (e.g. Macromedia Flash back in ancient history).
Furthermore, when Flash had cornered a market, it had absolutely no competition at all. A complete monopoly on that segment of the market.
It took Steve Jobs and Apple to destroy it, but that's a different story.
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The reasoning for only three engines, isn't the fault of open standards.
There are many elements of our economic system that prevent competition. Open standards is not one of them.
Browser engines are extremely difficult to start today because of the extensive, complicated, and ever growing list of specifications.
We had a web before open standards. It wasn't the best user experience and each browser was somewhat of a walled garden, but there was heavy competition in the space.
I imagine there's most likely a subset of the population who believe that open standards are aligned conceptually to regulation, and that any form of regulation in a free market is wrong.
This subset of the population is misguided at best, and delusional at worst.
If we needed to support another browser we'd need to provide a new solution built to its specification.
Open standards have allowed the possibility of multiple browser vendors, without making the life of browser consumers (i.e. developers and organisations providing apps and sites) a living hell.
Without this, we'd be providing apps and sites for a proprietary system (e.g. Macromedia Flash back in ancient history).
Furthermore, when Flash had cornered a market, it had absolutely no competition at all. A complete monopoly on that segment of the market.
It took Steve Jobs and Apple to destroy it, but that's a different story.
--
The reasoning for only three engines, isn't the fault of open standards.
There are many elements of our economic system that prevent competition. Open standards is not one of them.