Lock-in (technology development)

In technology development, lock-in describes the phenomenon that a technological innovation that has become a standard allows only certain types of use and a further development can not be realized easily.

For example, the MIDI protocol has become a standard for electronic control of musical instruments. MIDI can be a very helpful tool for musicians in certain situations and is a de facto standard. However, MIDI does not make all available musical expressions. Musicians who now work with Midi can only be creative in the context of what the MIDI interface allows. The lock-in is that it is almost impossible for an individual musician to develop a different standard, and he is therefore dependent on the limited possibilities of the prevailing technology (here MIDI). Single-level Edit source text

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