Embedded systems are far more diverse than devices on the desktop and service sides. Hoskin pointed out that not only is there now a greater diversity of operating systems and CPU architectures in use, but the physical characteristics of the devices vary enormously. Then the display itself will vary widely in both size and color depth. And if you are trying to write graphical software, there are dozens of graphics packages you might have to support. Therefore, Hoskin emphasized, common standards and abstractions for embedded systems developers and manufacturers are essential.
Standards make sense from everyone's point of view.
For the application writers and content providers, standards guarantee that the code they write will run on the target devices that implement the standards. For builders of devices, standards provide an assurance that there will be applications to run on their devices. Hoskin said that standards, if they are to work, must be appropriate both for the capabilities of the target devices and for the uses to which they will be put. And perhaps most importantly, they must be implemented. As an Englishman, permit me to quote from Shakespeare.