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Saturday, September 24, 2016

VOLUME - NUMBER

So It's Ugly, Big Deal

By Walter Salm, Editor Emeritus
"Ugly as sin." That was my first impression of the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, also lovingly known as "Warthog" because it really is ugly and has a lot of metal "warts" on its skin. I first saw the Warthog in the boneyard at Tucson's Davis-Monthan AFB. In the boneyard ...

Lessons from the Far East

By Jacob Fattal, Publisher
Last year, China experienced its lowest percentage of growth in 25 years, dipping just below 7 percent. Since that figure was announced earlier this year, the government has set its target growth rate for 2016 even lower, sparking some concern that the economy is stalling. Does this ...

Shenzhen and Chicago: Hi-Tech Hotbeds

By Jacob Fattal, Publisher
Shenzhen, China, was at one time a small market town of 30,000 inhabitants; its meteoric growth began when the city was named China's first Special Economic Zone in 1980. Nestled in the Pearl River Delta region, the city has become a global center for manufacturing with a population ...

The System is Broken

By Walter Salm, Editor Emeritus
The title of a cover article in a recent issue of Consumer Reports reads, "I Kind of Ruined My Life by Going to College," this from a person with $152,000 in student loan debt and no job. The article goes on to say that 42 million people owe $1.3 trillion in student debt, and ...

Is This My Next Car?

By Walter Salm, Editor Emeritus
Fuel cells. I talk about them so much that my coworkers are getting a little sick of the subject. But I have a long history with these remarkable power sources. The very first fuel cell article I ever wrote appeared in Popular Electronics magazine in 1965. There were several ...

Storage: Renewable Energy's Achilles Heel

By Jacob Fattal
The current global focus on generating renewable energy has continually focused a spotlight on the problem of storing it. Battery technology lags far behind semiconductor development, and in fact has not advanced significantly in decades. The potential benefits are many. According to ...

Printing the Future from Scratch

By Jacob Fattal
Additive manufacturing or 3D printing has become a major component of every kind of manufacturing enterprise, be it electronics, medical, military, automotive, or aerospace. Starting from meager beginnings as a curiosity and then a way to make engineering prototypes, the technology ...

Revisiting the Cloud's Dirty Little Secret

By Walter Salm, Editor Emeritus
The other day, a new icon appeared on my smartphone's screen: a puffy white cloud on a red background. Like it or not, the cloud has become a part of my daily life, which had been true long before that new icon appeared on my phone. Selecting the icon takes me to Verizon's Cloud, where ...

Celebrating Ray Dolby

By Walter Salm, Editor Emeritus
Once, when I was still in high school, I drove the 35 miles to Schenectady, NY (my mother came along as chaperone) to see a day's worth of live TV production at the local station, GE's WRGB. This was the one and only TV channel we could receive at the time, and only with a very tall ...

The Trans-Pacific See-Saw

By Jacob Fattal
The United States and China, the world's two top economic and technological giants, continue their see-saw relationship, but with a big difference this year. Since Deng Xiaoping introduced sweeping market and economic reforms 30 years ago, China's GDP has grown at an astonishing rate ...

Long Distance Please

By Walter Salm, Editor Emeritus
Not long after I graduated from high school, my rather backward hometown's telephone system was upgraded from manual to automatic dialing. No longer did we have to pick up the telephone handset and wait for an operator to say, "Number Please." Instead, the new phone had a shiny, nickel ...

Setting Our Sights on APEX

This month, we have focused our efforts entirely on delivering a tremendous March issue, centered around APEX. Of the many shows U.S.Tech participates in each year, APEX represents our core readership in the printed circuit industry.

Changing the Guard

By Walter Salm, Editor Emeritus
If my new job title (above) surprises you, it's about time. It's about time for a changing of the guard at U.S. Tech, and quite frankly I am a bit surprised that I have lasted this long. I have not actually stepped down as the title might suggest, but instead have curtailed ...

It's Showtime Again

By Jacob Fattal, Publisher
One year of trade shows has barely ended and here we are in the midst of a new crop of expos, including some important changes. First off, there's ATX/MD&M West in Anaheim, and after a deep breath, we head for APEX in Las Vegas in March. APEX is by far the most important single show ...

Print Is Still Alive and Well

By Walter Salm
Is print dead? Certainly not. US Tech continues its commitment to print — in addition to our large web site and digital editions, and a hefty archive of back issues. According to a recent report in The New York Times print books are also alive and well, and one ...

The Latest and the Greatest

By Jacob Fattal, Publisher
The end of the year comes relentlessly, reminding us of all the time and effort we have spent on producing those last nine issues of U.S. Tech, and we are looking ahead to what's in store for us in 2016. We've made a lot of changes during the year that is quickly slipping away ...

Wearing Out our Passports

Bringing U.S. Tech to a global audience means passports that get dog-eared from over-use. Last month we worked the Nepcon South China trade show, then several U.S. shows, and now productronica in Munich, our last major show for the year. Ever since it was spun off as a separate show in 1975 ...

Five-Door Computers on Wheels

By Walter Salm
The family car has evolved into a complex electronics entertainment venue, with video players for the kids in the back seat, GPS and music for the driver, and hands-free Bluetooth telephoning that uses the car's stereo speakers. I recently did an electronics upgrade to my car, since ...

It Was the Best of Years and the Worst of Years

By Jacob Fattal
I know it wasn't planned that way, but during our week of travel to China to attend the Nepcon South China Expo in Shenzhen, the whole world seemed to change. First, the Chinese Government elected to devalue its currency, not once but twice, and this sent worldwide markets into free ...

Beware: Robo-Umpires Are Here

By Walter Salm
I have been an avid baseball fan most of my life, in particular a NY Mets fan. When asked about it, I simply tell people that being a Mets fan requires a great deal of patience and lots of strength of character. This is what you must believe when you root for a team that loses most ...