lock-in
When an existing standard becomes almost impossible
to supercede because of the cost or logistical difficulties
involved in convincing all its users to switch something
different and, typically, {incompatible}.
The common implication is that the existing standard is
notably inferior to other comparable standards developed
before or since.
Things which have been accused of benefiting from lock-in in
the absence of being truly worthwhile include: the {QWERTY}
keyboard; any well-known {operating system} or programming
language you don't like (e.g., see "{Unix conspiracy}"); every
product ever made by {Microsoft Corporation}; and most
currently deployed formats for transmitting or storing data of
any kind (especially the {Internet Protocol}, 7-bit (or even
8-bit) {character sets}, analog video or audio broadcast
formats and nearly any file format).
Because of {network effects} outside of just computer
networks, {Real World} examples of lock-in include the current
spelling conventions for writing English (or French, Japanese,
Hebrew, Arabic, etc.); the design of American money; the
imperial (feet, inches, ounces, etc.) system of measurement;
and the various and anachronistic aspects of the internal
organisation of any government (e.g., the American Electoral
College).
Compare with {cruft}, {flag day}.
(1998-01-15)