Thanks for finding/sharing this. Although 4.5 years seems like an eternity in modern "Internet time", it's actually not so bad in "International Standards development time". Particularly given that you had quite a number of entrenched manufacturers with incompatible products shipping and in active use. In ISO the target development time for a new standard is 3 years. In practice that's not always (often?) met. They now have an expedited process that in theory can complete more quickly IFF the starting point is a completed draft that already has a high degree of associated concensus among interested parties. However in either case there is a methodical process that involves drafts, reviews, and ballots, with the draft proceeding through several named stages of increasing quality (and decreasing ability to make substantial changes without being kicked back to an earlier stage). The last stage is allowed to be only *editorial* in nature, and includes the widest possible balloting group. Typically it's a 6-month ballot. Things move slowly ... indeed.
If you examine http://www.techstreet.com/ieee/products/vendor_id/952#jumps you can see that IEEE-696 was officially published June 13, 1983. I've worked in a number of International standardization teams and they can be a cross between a mini-UN, a political convention, and a faculty debate, with some amount of back-stabbing on the side. No joke ... depends on the commercial stakes, and participant personalities. See recent history of certain Microsoft-involved XML-based office document "standards" ... I've always found amusing the history behind the 1/4" tape cartridge standard. HP adopted the International Standard; everyone else adopted the Sun "facts on the ground" commercial reality and the later is what we all came to know, love, and then pass into history. HP tapes weren't interoperable with Sun (or any other manufacturer). But they were "standard". The US Government (e.g., Army) bought "standard" (such being the ways of contracting) and paid through the nose for the privilege ... There's a lesson there for us all :->. On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 7:41 PM, Crusty OMO <[email protected]> wrote: > I probably knew what the "S" stands for in S-100, but like most things, > I've forgotten it. > > While looking through some magazines, I came across this article from > Computers and Electronics, May 1983 that describes the origins and naming > of the S-100 bus and dates the IEEE-696 standard as a process that started > in 1979 and took 4-1/2 years to complete. Based on those rough dates and > the date of the magazine, it could be guessed that IEEE-696 was official in > March or April of 1983. > > Article attached. > > Cheers, > Josh > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "N8VEM-S100" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "N8VEM-S100" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
