To answer the second part of your question, there are two schools of thought around standards. One is that it makes it easier to make all devices compliant, accessible, easy to understand or work with (in the case of phones it reduces number of cables you need to buy, fast transfer speeds, etc.). Great for the consumer. The second is that standards stifle the evolution of technology as the standard may not be the best solution, and it stops further research or development. Likewise, a single standard can almost never cover all niche cases and can therefore be detrimental sometimes. It also homogenizes the products in question. Both have their merits, and I tend to lean to support the first argument, but for this reason you have companies arguing one way and consumers arguing the other. As usual, the answer is somewhere in the middle ground.
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