I wonder whether IT is the only industry where sophisticated products get thrown away after years of development simply due to fashion-like trends. In mechanical engineering for example, do they throw away a new engine design just because a competitor, that builds a nice looking car, says that it sucks? I believe th IT industry is crippled because it is filled with intangible assets that can easily be made incompatible to each other. Why cant we have international standards that prohibit this sort of anti-competitive crippling.