Standardization, network economics, and it
pp. 521-525
in: Richard Baskerville, Jan Stage, Janice DeGross (eds), Organizational and social perspectives on information technology, Berlin, Springer, 2000Abstract
Standard software systems pervade our lives, both as professionals working in an organization and as private persons. Organizations and individuals alike have to make multiple decisions. What browser to use (Netscape or Explorer)? What office suite to purchase? What instant messenger to use (preferably, the one most of your friends or colleagues use; AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo represent three alternatives)? What operating system to purchase in order to protect the current IT infrastructure? What Internet search engine to purchase for the company's intranet? Whether to buy a single, double, or triple band cellular phone depending on where you live in the U.S. and how much you travel?