Perry,
The jury isn't out yet as to whether CompactFlash has reached "commodity" status.
I think we fall somewhere between a completely open consortium-based architecture and an entirely proprietary architecture (domination-based).
It may be so by design.
This is why I feel that way.
"Commodity versus Commoditization"
Semiconductors fall into the category of enabling technologies. As such, these products
commoditize extremely well and migrate far afield from the original point of introduction.
This is referred to as a "network effect". In contrast, items such as application software
are non-enabling and are forced to interact with an infrastructure of common enabling
technologies. Applications software does not commoditize well and possess a limited
capactiy to network. The ability to network successfully on several platforms is what
Moore refers to as "commoditization". It is distinct from the less appealing term,
"commodity", which we frequently associate with high volume, low margin,
run-of-the-mill items such as pork bellies and DRAM memory.
In situations where a defacto standard does not develop, or where standards are
created by a consortium of vendors in a non-proprietary fashion the risk of producing a
commodity rather than creating commoditization in the market place is high. Examples of
this type of situation include the current desktop PC market, competition between
phone modem producers, and the cellular telephone market.
Proprietary Open Architectures
The most stringent definition of a proprietary and open architecture is one that requires
control be taken by a single vendor (proprietary) with a visible set of specifications that
allow other vendors to build to these specifications (an open architecture). Once deeply
entrenched in this open architecture it becomes extremely difficult to escape from it or to
dethrone it. The adoption of a single architecture also helps to remove bottlenecks to
growth.
"The most rapidly proliferating architectures have proved to be proprietary and
open."
The notion of control, unthrottled market domination and creation of a sole vendor
is, in my opinion, distasteful. I calls to mind such related concepts as anti-competitive
spirit, intentional destruction of competitors, price fixing, and the like. It also risks the
stagnation of further development of the core specifications unless done so to throw
competitors off balance. This seems to be less than a healthy environment for innovation.
Some will contend that such priviledges are owed to the company able to engineer a
dominant, proprietary standard. This may be true, yet it also creates a great deal of
animosity. The recent investigations on such Gorillas as Intel and Microsoft underscore
the distaste that many harbor for such giants.
The goal of a consortium, as I mentioned above, is to create a market enviroment similar
to a proprietary, open architecture which can be applied to a given discontinuous
innovation. It represents a more calculated election or creation of a defacto standard
and, in essence, eliminates the possibility of dominant Gorilla. It also leads us to a more
royal existence. An existence with Kings, Princes and Serfs. It is the type of
environment that engenders much less in the way of scrutiny, animosity and distaste. It is
a more politically correct form of "socialistic" capitalism or a collective that rewards
ingenuity and innovation, offers outstanding value to the consumer, encourages continual
improvement and upgrading while at the same time avoiding the discontent common to
Gorilla markets. It is this type of arrangement that defines SanDisk's approach to the
flash memory market.
The CompactFlash Association
compactflash.org
In a stroke of genius in 1995, Dr. Eli Harari, a respected innovator in the field of flash
memory and President & CEO of SanDisk Corportation, offered the fruit of his labor,
the concept of the CompactFlash card, as an open standard so as to guarantee the
continued improvement and refinement of this enabling technology
(http://www.compactflash.org/faqs/faq.htm#What_is).
The goals of the CompactFlash Association are well defined:
The CompactFlash Association is a non-profit, mutual-benefit corporation that
promotes adoption of CompactFlash as a worldwide, ultra-small, removable
storage standard for capturing and transporting digital data, audio and images.
The CFA, which makes the CompactFlash and CF(logo) trademarks and
CompactFlash Technical Specification available royalty-free to member
companies, is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA.
The goals of the CFA are to promote and encourage the worldwide adoption of
CompactFlash technology as an open industry standard. The association's
primary objectives are to drive alternate-source availability; to drive acceptance
of the CF specification as an industry standard across platforms and markets
internationally; to ensure compatibility for users of CF products, and to evolve
the approved CF standard over time while ensuring backward compatibility.
At the point in time the CFA was forming, the first design-ins for CompactFlash in the
consumer electronics market were just emerging. And rather than risk the intrusion of an
inferior solution to the market demand for rugged, non-volatile, portable memory (or, as
Moore would contend, the "desperate" selection of market Gorilla), Dr. Harari unveiled
the functionality of CompactFlash in its entirety, solicited the participation of established
market leaders (network participants) and gambled on the emergence of CompactFlash
as the defacto standard. In my opinion, this was done to "commoditize" CompactFlash
and deeply seat the technology in the digital camera market. In doing so it facilitated the
recognition of the attributes of CompactFlash, insured the presence of "second sources"
to consumers and OEM's, and eliminated the stigma of "anti-competitive behavior"
common to industry Gorillas such as Intel and Microsoft.
SanDisk and the CompactFlash association represent a new breed living in a terrain
somewhere between the restrictive, proprietary and open architectures of today's
gorillas and the gorilla-less domain of a consortium. It is a company of the new
millenium.
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