"The problem with networks is that they're very complex systems, with multiple elements along the way, made by different manufacturers, often with different owners" Ah, how people forget the early days of networking. I remember vividly the early days of the Networld/Interop trade show - Interop was in the name because if, as a vendor, your equipment couldn't integrate with the show network they would throw your booth off the show floor.

That's how bad interoperability in the early days was!