In general, protocols can have widely differing degrees of industry tenure. Some protocols achieve widespread adoption and usage, and persist as long-term industry standards. Others never achieve widespread acceptance, or else have very short lifetimes before becoming obsolete or being eclipsed by competing protocols.
There is no definitive set of circumstances which will guarantee either the success or failure of any particular protocol. Protocols succeed or fail as a result of a number of technical, cultural and business factors, each of which has complex effects and unpredictable results. The technical merits of the protocol play an important role; however, technical superiority alone is no guarantee of success.
The LEAP Manifesto is about a particular set of protocols: the Lightweight & Efficient Application Protocols, or LEAP. These protocols have been designed to address a particular industry need: the need for a set of highly efficient communications protocols. They are intended to be the foundation of an entirely new industry: the Mobile Messaging industry.
It is our hope and our intention that the protocols succeed in this purpose. It is our hope that these protocols become enduring industry standards, that they play a key role in the growth of the Mobile Messaging industry, and that they bring long-lasting benefits to the industry and the consumer.
Those factors which influence the success or failure of protocols are therefore of great interest to us. In this article, we identify and discuss those characteristics of protocols which contribute to their success or failure. In this regard we can learn a great deal from history. This article therefore also includes several case studies of successful and failed protocols.