I have been fascinated by UX (user experience), since I left Microsoft.  When I joined in 2004, the world was HTML Tables on IE Browsers.  The world has truly changed.  The UI metaphor has become rich and beautiful, but the homogenous nature of the platform has deteriorated into islands of implementation.

From an economic (and social justice) perspective, I applaud diversity.  But the complexity of developing in a multiplatform world, will ironically devolve the richness of the user experience.  How can this be?

Appropriate parallels can be found History.  Civilization advances as specialized production becomes commodified freeing up the resources required for new specializations to develop.  This commodification is a function of standardization.  Standardization then leads to mechanization which dramatically reduces the resources required to produce a good or service.  Yet the opposite is also true.

My professional career has been encompassed by a Pax Romana, dominated by Microsoft homogeny.  As an independent business owner, looking to invest resources in new Rich Internet Applications.  I am truly challenges by the disintegration occurring in the marketplace.

I had hoped to develop rich applications that spanned Mobile, Desktop, XBox and Server environments seamlessly; leveraging the .NET CLR VM, and providing those services at a commoditized price point.  Instead, I am confronted with islands of devices whose integration and independent evolution becomes prohibitively expensive.

I always found it ironic how Microsoft was vilified in its relentless pursuit of standardization.  Few realized that standardization enabled richer dreams to be realized.  I wonder, if we will look back 5 years from now and say, "that was the golden age of technology."

References:

Browser diversification in 2008

OS diversification in 2008

Plug In Deployment