> In some ways, computer standardization is akin to the selective breeding of agricultural products, such as potatoes.... The breeding of a single genetic strain of potato in Ireland in the 19th Century led to the potato famine of 1845. Because every potato in Ireland had exactly the same genetic material, every potato was susceptible to the same bacterial infection.... Computers are just as susceptible to infection as plants are.... In biology, successful species evolution preserves diversity and variation.... So, in computer systems, variation must be preserved.... The need for variation and diversity exists in computer systems just as it exists in nature. —

> Benjamin Zorn, "In Computers, as in Nature, Variety Is Desirable," New York Times, Nov. 27, 1988.

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