One thing that would help would be standardization of interfacestandardization of interfaces. Either through collaboration of the companies in the industry or by one dominating market share and others going copy cat.
A common structure and location of menus, meaning of icons, etc.
It is great to have competition for reasons of pricing, innovation, etc but a familiar interface is what will make it more usable for the average person that just wants it to work.
Look at computers, is Windows the "best" system available? No, but it is the best known, most familiar, and so wins out 9/10 times unless you are dealing with someone with specific needs or a higher interest in computers.
A light switch has a few variations sure, but it is still an extremely simple device, and for the most part you know Up is on and Down is off.
A good example of disparate interfaces are cell phones. I'm a tech guy, you hand me a phone, I can figure it out, but I'm constantly asked by other people when they get a new phone how to do the operations they used to do on the old phone, add contacts, change ringtones, etc. Apple, Android, Nokia, Samsung, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Motorola are all different user experiences. For ringtones, one is under Alerts, another Audio, Sound, Notifications, etc. Menu, Settings, Options, Preferences. It's like when a manufacturer goes to make a new interface, they pull out another companies phone and a Thesaurus and just pick different words. People will deal with cracked screens, poor reception, short battery life, etc just to avoid having to learn a new phone.
