Suppose, for the sake of argument, that years from now we see in retrospect that early standardization might have been beneficial in the isolated instance of HDTV, if we overlook the general negative effects of such coercive policy on the social-cultural atmosphere. Then it would nevertheless remain true than compulsory standardization impedes overall progress, because it prevents the market from determining the best technological alternatives by a process of practical experience—the only type of process by which human beings can acquire valid knowledge (cf. pp. 1.3:56-9). Furthermore, we have no means of knowing in advance which areas could be standardized without ultimately impeding technological progress. As Hayek argues in The Road to Serfdom (

"Though in the short run the price we have to pay for variety and freedom of choice may sometimes be high, in the long run even material progress will depend on this very variety, because we can never predict from which of the many forms in which a good or service can be provided something better may develop."

As with many other forms of intervention (cf. p. 4.11:75), the destructive effects of compulsory standardization are not overt but hidden, consisting in goods never produced and progress never realized.

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