I’m old enough to have a long memory, but young enough that it does not yet resemble Swiss cheese. So, despite having consumed certain, uh, chemicals, on more than one occasion, I actually still can recall more than a few things — one of which was the promise of open standards. Once the industry migrated to IP Telephony, we were told, buyers would be living in a new world — one where they could mix and match phones and other system components. Prices would fall; life would be good.

Source: Getting Over the Love-Hate Dynamic With Open Standards