(19/02/2011 10:14 AM)ProperBritish Wrote:  if it were to happen everything would have to be made by one almighty, all compatible company

Isn't that what's already happening?  I mean, how many applications aren't compatible with Windows these days?  Even open source applications are taking the effort to make themselves compatible with MS's product.

I'm sure companies do want to collaborate.  Perhaps not in the best interests of consumers, but they do want to collaborate if it can give mutual gain.

(19/02/2011 10:14 AM)ProperBritish Wrote:  not to mention everything in the world would become out of date as soon as a new version of the OS everything runs on came out.

Backwards compatibility has always been a key selling point in the technology world, though maintaining that may be difficult, yes.

I still don't think many of the concepts are terribly likely, I mean, for example, the road signs.  Do they really offer tangible benefits enough to justify the cost of Governments replacing older signs?