14 DAY TRIAL // The Register reports that "the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has established a working group to develop a universal docking standard for portable devices, the US-centric organization announced this week."
Isn't that lovely. It seems that iPods are to have a universal, standard dock. Strange how mobile phones who are much, much further widespread than the Pods, all have different standards for chargers and accessories; not only are the standards different across manufacturers, but they also differ from model to model. But that's not an issue, not really, because docking stations are to be standardized and not mobile phones.
Is this a rant? Perhaps, but then again, "Microsoft, the software giant is the only company to be granted quotation space on the CEA press release, and there's a Microsoft staffer in the working group's chair." OK, so what does Microsoft have to do with a move that stands to be beneficial to every portable hardware manufacturer except Apple? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Without a doubt, their goal is clear: develop a common platform in order to strip the iPod of it's accessory advantage by giving everyone the same accessories.
This is a serious issue for Apple because, at the end of the day, they are a hardware manufacturer, while Redmond churns out software. Microsoft is unaffected as long as people use their code, regardless on what hardware. So why is a software developer holding hands with the CEA on a hardware issue? Time will tell.
In the mean time, Apple can either try to make their dock the standard like they did with FireWire or choose to go with whatever the CEA cooks up, but it will probably mean loosing compatibility with older iPod models.