said by funchords:said by SpaethCo:Case in point: name all of the full DOCSIS 3.0 (ie, not pre-cert) cable modems that are currently being mass produced today.
Or 802.11N wi-fi gear (not DRAFT)
That's not quite the same argument. The 11N standard is baked out enough that equipment will, in all probability, be firmware upgradeable to the final standard. The worst case scenario is that you end up just like the Cisco customers who bought power over Ethernet hardware before the 802.3af standard was ratified -- you can still use the hardware, but you won't be able to purchase any new devices to attach to it. Considering 11N draft APs are going for sub-$100 and NICs are dirt cheap, the hardship is also minimal.
Right now the DOCSIS 3.0 trial hardware is spendy because it's being produced in limited production runs, and modems like the DPC2505 that Comcast is using here in MN only have multiple downstream tuners combined with a single upstream tuner. Once upstream channel bonding is fully adopted and product actually starts rolling off assembly lines, the DPC2505 will simply be a $600 piece of dumpster fodder. Not exactly the kind of hardware you want to start rolling en-mass.