Papers, archived

It looks like a new trend is to start offering all back issues on some CD-ROM, DVD, or even hard disk at relatively low prices. Publications like Dr. Dobbs, National Geographic, and now the New Yorker are all available in electronic form. Great (I have the first two of these, and a few others).
Wouldn't it be nice is some
standard browser emerged, so that we don't end up with a huge mix of supplier-specific reader software? The current situation is a bit like having a different reader application for every web site...