The World Has Changed, Yet Again

The internet was never designed to be part of society’s central infrastructure. It was developed for military purposes, in a hard iron, highly protected box. But it wasn’t long until the internet became a life-changing technology for the masses. Gradually, it created a Connected World, supported by digital technology. This technology has become an essential part of our lives, our devices, and our neighborhoods, generating new ways of living, working, and interacting.

The Connected World is also one of our greatest weaknesses. What would happen if the internet were to go away? The truth is, we would not be going back to the 1980’s, to the pre-internet era. We would go back to the 1880’s. Why? Because so much of what we do today relies on our new Connected World, the old processes and approaches are becoming obsolete. The Connected World is a valuable and precious asset that we have come to depend on.

On January 15, 2002, Bill Gates sent a memorandum to all Microsoft employees, noting the importance of providing computing that was as “reliable and secure as electricity, water services and telephony…..Computing is already an important part of many people’s lives. Within ten years, it will be an integral and indispensable part of almost everything we do.”

That statement turned out to be accurate. We now live in a world where humans are more connected by, and reliant on, technology than ever before. Virtually every industry relies upon the internet to some extent: medical, vehicle, satellite, computing, communication, etc. As this dependency grows, tolerance of reliability and stability issues diminishes. This expectation for quality and reliability raises the bar for the entire electronics industry.

The challenges of designing for the Connected World were the inspiration for writing my latest article, recently published on the Tech Design Forum. In my next blog, I’ll discuss a bit about how Xpedition is specifically designed to help PCB designers and engineers ensure reliability in their designs.

Thanks for reading,

Danit