alt Hacker NewsMy original demonstration wasn't actually the browser question. Auto manufacturers did show much higher levels of competition before standards and shared components.
Though it is worth noting that there was heavy competition in the browser space prior to the specs we have today. Part of the reason we ended up with a heavily spec-driven web is precisely because the high level of competition was leading to claims of corporate espionage, and it was expected that end user experience would be better with standards.
I absolutely agree the end user experience is better. I disagree that has anything to do with competition.
Without open standards, we would likely choose _one browser_, due to the economic cost of development.
One manufacturer would call all the shots for the _one browser_.
There would be zero competition until something calamitous happened to the manufacturer and the pendulum swung to a new monopolist.
We even have an example of how this plays out to fall back on; Macromedia Flash.