It is a tribute to the power and effectiveness of information processing standards that people benefit from so many of them without noticing. Standards allow computers and computer programs to share information, even when the hardware or software has been designed by different individuals or companies. When a new expansion card or peripheral works in a computer without any problems, it is because the device has been designed to conform to standards. When software is able to read a data file sent to a user by a friend, it is because the data is written and read according to a standard format. Information processing is only one of many areas of daily life in which standards are important. For example, automobile parts and the voltage of household electrical current are standardized, and money is a standard medium of exchange.

When a person refers to...