Jon Wurl Who won? The Sony Betamax, or VHS? Vector versus Raster? Mac versus PC? So many battles and so little time. No one probably anymore cares that VHS became the standard now that video tapes are relics. While the battle between Mac and PC continues, and will until each are gone to the cloud, there is peace in knowing that each battle represented—to a smaller or greater degree— a war for standard. Standards do exist and for good reason. They don't always represent the best technology.

Mariposa Rotarians on Thursday heard from Jon G. Wurl, whose long list of academic and other achievements in the world of electronics and technology would, well, set a standard. Wurl is, by current trade, a Web designer. His history in electronics and things technical has had him watch and participate in the research into, and generation of standards.

What is a standard and why is it important? Think the Beta - VHS war of yesteryear, and it becomes apparent. Each had their fine points but were not compatible with one another. The National Institute for Standards Technology or NIST sets standards for measurement, communication, and many things that we deal with everyday. It is U.S. based and countless counterparts exist internationally. It is important that clear and concise sets of requirements be set forth for a standard and that equipment claiming to be in compliance with such meets each requirement.

This interest is a passion with Wurl. He has seen them come and go. He looks towards to future to see what will bring. From cell phones to radios to programming language, Wurl is passionate and concerned. His presentation, entitled “Smart Phone Paradigm Shift,” examines where the idea of standardization has taken humankind. He loves statistics that connect. For example, the automobile, well into its second century of production, has seen fewer than a billion cars. Portable phone technology, a quarter the age of automobiles, has seen users expand past two and a half billion users. Not that cars and phones are the most explicit example, but a very good one. Phones benefitted from standardization of the signal, bandwidth, frequency, and more; but even today there exists, worldwide, more than one. And like the Beta/VHS, different phones work only in their standardized areas.

The main driver for standards, says Wurl, is the consumer. The consumer demanded, the standard organizations asserted themselves, and the law of unintended consequences prevailed. Wurl looks to the future in computing. The cloud—a place where software is downloaded from and used and discarded as quickly—is going to set the standard for computing for the next generation. No more MAC OS or Linux or Windows, just the necessities as needed and then on to the next picture, document, spreadsheet, or game. Contact Wurl at 742-5361 to learn more or seek his advice.