Why interoperability matters or Incompatibility sucks

At this time my frustation with Kodak's incompatible/unstandard Data transfer Cable(DTC) is at peak. I repent over buying this camera for the only reason that none of its accessories follow any proper standard so that you can buy a non-kodak stuff and use with the camera. Some one lost my DTC and I have checked with almost all the DTCs in the college and none fits in to this camera.

Now the only thing I can do to transfer my images from the Digicam is to buy another cable from Kodak at unreasonable prices (15$ compared to normal ones 10$). It sucks, doesn't it! I can't understand why they can put a normal mini-USB stuff at the camera end of the cable, which is the industry standard.

I have similar complaints with Motorola's Data Cable which aren't compatible even across its own phones. Mine (A768i) is entirely different from Sachin's (A780). Why the hell? Also I don't understand why do these ppl have to make different charging cables ? Even they are different for different phones from Motorola. Nokia's chargers are atleast standard for the Nokia phones. You don't have to carry your charger with you all the time, because someone else charger will fit in to your phones.

Incompatibility really sucks. I would really recommend ppl to buy cameras from brands like Olympus and Nikon because they adhere to the industry standards and don't put you into what is called a Vendor-LockIn situation. Besides they are better in functionality and look too.