There was I in Houston Texas, at that great and glorious nexus,
When I was hit in the solar plexus, at the Astrohall ISA show
While I plodded nearly dropping, suddenly there was I a stopping
At a rather big booth slopping, right upon the ISA floor
" 'Tis only a mirage!" I muttered, plopping right there at their door
'Twas only this and nothing more.
Microsoft had taken over, the industry swam in fields of clover
Everyone toed the line moreover, Something never seen before
They had simply all agreed on, Microsoft just took the lead on
A fieldbus spec that all could feed on, in just three weeks and nothing more
"Microsoft fieldbus?" I stuttered, "I can't believe this can be so!
It cannot be, or can it though?"
'Twas ISA Houston '98, mid-October was the date
We all agreed 'twas not too late, and it was right there at the show
Bill Gates was there, the great boy-wonder, and Microsoft just stole the thunder
Profibus was cast asunder, the Fieldbus committee shown the door
"This can't really be!" I uttered, sitting down to see some more
And I was shaken to the core!
Foundation Fieldbus was quickly stopped, WorldFIP and LON were simply dropped
DeviceNet, ControlNet both had flopped, with SP-50 all aglow
This new Fieldbus was really slick! In Windows it was just one click!
The specs were just two pages thick, which Microsoft now had in tow
With amazement my heart fluttered, Win/SP-50 stole the show!
The Fieldbus standard for ever more!
I deep into that booth was peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, shouting, hoping, cheering, dreaming dreams ne'er dreamed before
But then the spell was really broken, and the truth was clearly spoken
'Cause then quite simply I awoken, right there at the ISA show
My dream just fizzled out and sputtered, and I wandered sadly off the floor
'Twas just a dream and nothing more....