Nothing new under the sun

Read in the techno section of my paper today that there are going to be two new standards for the next generation DVDs, and as ever the consumer will be faced with hoping they choose the winner - or alternatively opting out until the winner has emerged. And the winner won't necessarily be the best. Twenty-odd years ago, I was the proud owner of a Grundig Video 2000 video recorder - beat VHS all ends up - far, far superior. But who came out on top in the end? VHS. But it even goes back further than that - was watching an evening of Fred Dibnah's programmes on the history of steam engines on TV this weekend, and apparently George Stephenson and Isambard Brunel couldn't agree on what the distance should be between railway rails (the "gauge") so they both went their own way, using different gauges, until, despite the fact that his wider gauge was demonstrably safer, Brunel had to concede defeat. What goes around comes around, eh?