Twenty five years – a combined view
10 September 2007
I have just returned from sunning myself in hotter climates, and in my absence Becky Ash, Assistant Editor, took a look at the combined views of our SMART Group visions of the next 25 years. The last part of this series is on the web site now and comes from Sue Knight. Becky’s take on the series follows:
Technology and the world have come along in leaps and bounds over the last 25 years. As Ron Lasky of Indium Corporation points out (click here online), these days we have iPODs, DVD players and digital cameras - when you look back at the size of mobile phones when they first arrived on the scene, it’s not hard to be slightly amazed (and amused). These days, can you imagine someone working without a PC, or trying to keep up to date with life without a cellular phone? Over the next 25 years, Ron believes that there will be the development of new electronic devices beyond what we have now. Nano technology and bioengineering will help monitor biological processes in bodies to control illnesses; auto will be more computer peripheral; silicon will continue to dominate ICs; and eventually there will be a cellular phone that does everything.
He also believes that there might be a ‘backlash’ of sorts, amongst people who believe children spend too much time on the internet, and that we have become too dependent on society – although this is not too different from some views of today. But, he argues it will be a positive future, with people being better off because of these devices.
Peter Grundy of SMART Group (click here online) looks at the possibility of a revolution in the next 25 years. He says that our electronics manufacturing world is mature, and is growing, suggesting more evolution than revolution. The demand of today will surely increase, and so the technology will have to grow with it. Peter argues that the industry has now reached stability, compared to its precarious nature some years ago.
Sue Knight, Technical Chairman of SMART Group (click here online) agrees that it is incredible how far the electronics industry has come over the last 25 years. She believes that whatever we think will happen, will be wrong. There are already companies working on ‘next step’ technologies, and Sue looks at the focus being given to energy consumption. This will, and of course already is, affecting the industry, and surely will continue, possibly to a larger scale. She argues that the job would become boring if it became stagnated, and looks forward to the next implausible target.
It is almost impossible to imagine the industry in 25 years, as no doubt it was in 1982, where some people believed we’d be going around in flying cars in the future. One thing is for sure – considering how much has changed over the last two and a half decades, there is much to look forward to. No doubt in 25 years time, EMTWorldWide will look back again, with wonder and amazement at all that has been achieved.
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