Question

It seems like whenever there's a new technology (and there's ALWAYS a new technology), from cell phones to video players to computers, manufacturing companies scramble to produce the latest and greatest, leaving consumers lost in a sea of incompatible and ever-changing devices. Should device manufacturers be forced to work together to establish common standards for new technologies? Is that possible in a free market? Think about the possible effects on you, the consumer, of the August 24 2012 ruling stating that Samsung violated Apple patents