Standards Follow Practice, They Don't Lead Standards are generally good things to have. They are used to grade food, set communication protocols, mediate finance, allow computer programs to interoperate, dictate railroad track size, and much more. They have existed in some form since the beginning of recorded history. This essay describes primary, secondary, and tertiary effects of standards, and explores the link between practice and standard setting. The objective is to predict the outcome of certain trends in practice observed today based on the evolution of standards in the past. Insights gleaned from an analysis of the unique characteristics of tertiary effects of standards are used for this purpose. Biography February 25, 2002