Hmm, I'm not seeing that. In fact, I'm seeing the opposite as more and more parts become interchangeable. Where are you seeing this trend? In fact, there are more standards today than there ever were in the past. Also, the open source community has had quite an influence on many things.
Come on, your causing me to have to think and find examples. Unfortunately for me, at this time of night, I don't know if I will be responding that well.
First, you are correct that there are more standards today and the open source community is having an influence. For example, I am taking a look at how to learn HTML/CSS code and both books that I am looking at acknowledge that the lack of standards forced the implementation of standards so that all browsers would function reliably. Also, Cell phones used to be locked to a specific provider, but that restriction is crumbling.
I suppose my big examples of locking the consumer into a product line would be ink cartridges and music platforms such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and music servers. (But then, if I remember correctly, Apple now offers DRM free music. But then again Apple fought against cell phone jail breaking and lost.) Microsoft had "
play-for-sure", but killed it. Another example would be "
reward cards" that have become a retail rage. Of course reward cards don't stop you from going to a competitor, but they do provide a limited incentive to stay in-the-family.
I guess, I haven't come-up with any really good examples.