A Matter of Convenience?
Intel has always embraced standards "when they were convenient," asserted Hyperlogos blogger Martin Espinoza. "There isn't really any other standard for connecting arbitrary tiny expansion boards to embedded computers, at least not when they don't have SPI, I2C or similar onboard.
"This is well in line with Intel's normal activity," Espinoza said. "If this segment took off to the point where it was worth Intel's time, they'd likely define their own standard and compete with Arduino, but that would be a waste of time and money for the foreseeable future."
Truth be told, "there's not really a lot you can do to the spec to change it anyway," he concluded. "Due to the nature of the devices, you'd need basically the same pins to do the same job even if you moved them into another configuration, and what would you get out of doing that?