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www.us-tech.com
Tech-Op-ed October, 2016 SOUNDING OFF
By Walter Salm Editor Emeritus
Digital Forensics D
igital forensics is the star attraction in one of our front page stories this month, and it involves preserving and protecting historic software of all types: utilities, productivity and office software, games, and videos
that have somehow survived all of the potential damage that can be inflicted by years of improper storage —humidity, high temperatures, and certainly by magnetic fields —all environmental hazards for the life of archived digital da- ta. There was a lot of original art accompanying the games, and this too had to be digitally preserved. In a joint project undertaken by The Stanford University Libraries,
which acquired a huge windfall of a collection in 2009, partnering with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), this massive private collection of material has been saved for posterity in a yearlong project. Sev- eral of the intact cardboard boxes had original artwork which jarred quite a few of my memory cells, including cover art for SimCity, which I recalled had been an Electronic Arts title. This reminded me that I was present at the Cre- ation (with apologies to Dean Acheson) to witness the birth pangs of Electron- ic Arts in 1982. In those days, everyone was trying to capitalize on the incred- ible popularity of “Pong” and “Pac-Man” two early, very simplistic games (by today’s standards) from Atari, and available on plug-in ROM cartridges for its game console. My introduction to Electronic Arts came during a New York computer
show that same year. It was an exciting and confusing era; I was writing for several computer publications at the time, and was trying to keep track of all the different formats. My home office looked something like a computer test- ing lab; we had an Apple IIe, an Atari 600, Commodore 64, a TI computer, a Kaypro, an Eagle, an Adam, and an IBM, and of course the Atari game con- sole. We were constantly checking out software on the various formats; some worked better than others. During a computer and gaming show at the al- ready overburdened NY Coliseum, I fielded an invitation to a software demo in a one-on-one meeting in a hotel room with Trip Hawkins, the president of newly-minted Electronic Arts. He had obtained licenses that enabled him to write game programs for the Atari and several other computers. I was surprised to discover that this highly excited CEO was 20 years my
junior. I was beginning to realize that the youngsters were taking over high technology. Hawkins demonstrated a not-quite-finished program called “M.U.L.E.” by clutching four joysticks simultaneously. His hands weren’t quite big enough for this manual operation, but he somehow managed. He hadn’t gotten around to writing the part of the software that let the comput- er take over for missing humans in this game for up to four players. He rec- tified this shortcoming within weeks, but his main objective at the time was to have something to demonstrate during this all-important computer show in New York. Ultimately, M.U.L.E. became one of our all-time favorite games at home. It was all about colonizing an alien planet in competition with three other miners/colonists, and my wife and I would squeeze in a M.U.L.E. ses- sion almost every night, no matter what else might be on the schedule. Hawkins was a personable young guy with a great vision and an inner
fire that was absolutely contagious. He had left Apple with a bundle of cash and was eager to build his own little empire, which he ultimately did with one of the most original and long-lasting computer game software companies ever. Probably one of the greatest successes posted by Electronic Arts started with SimCity which then spawned all the other “Sims,” an ongoing success for the company. EA started acquiring other small software companies, mainly to get their programmers on the payroll. Good game designers were in very short supply in those days, and like every other aspect of the electronics in- dustry, game companies had to produce new stuff virtually every month. Hawkins left Electronic Arts in 1991 to design and market a new game
console. Ultimately, his new company was done in by too high a retail price tag on the console and very aggressive marketing by other game machine compa- nies that were better capitalized. In 2003, he started up another video game company called Digital Chocolate, mainly to make games for handheld plat- forms. In 2005, Hawkins was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame, an honor that had been far too long in coming. Sadly, in the 1980s, New York City lost most of its glitz as a center for
hi-tech trade shows, and it was many years before the city could win back some critical expo business. A key to this was the opening of the Jacob Javits Convention Center in 1986 and then a major expansion in 2013. As big and glitzy as it is, the venue is still not big enough, and according to some reports, the roof still leaks. r
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
By Jacob Fattal Publisher
What’s Next for U.S. Manufacturing?
turing to become largely service-oriented. According to the International Trade Administration, almost 80 percent of private U.S. jobs are in the serv- ice sector today. Over the last decades, as large numbers of manufacturing jobs moved overseas, the holes left in working class employment have changed the lives of many. Fortunately, a renewed political interest in manufacturing has come in the form of government initiatives, and not just as promises heard on the campaign trail. One recent example is Manufacturing USA (
www.manufacturingusa.com),
A
focused on creating a unified vision for manufacturing in the U.S., as well as sharing resources and knowledge to advance technology. A rebranding of the Na- tional Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) launched in 2014, the or- ganization is a comforting illustration of private and federal cooperation. The network currently consists of nine institutes, with six more planned to join by the end of 2017. In line with with the current trend of onshoring, Manufacturing USA seeks to increase the country’s manufacturing presence by combining the expertise of materials, electronics, photonics, and semiconductor manufacturers with research, design and development institutes. We certainly have large challenges facing the manufacturing industry to-
day. The rise of automation, the cost of labor, the offshoring of production, and a need to develop new skills to handle rapidly changing technology are at the forefront. These are issues that need to be considered as America moves into its next season with a new leader in the White House. At U.S.Tech, we are committed to supporting the growth of manufactur-
ing in the United States, and to encouraging global collaboration in the indus- try. Coming up, we will be traveling to The ASSEMBLY Show in Rosemont, Illinois, which will be an exciting look at manufacturing innovation here at home, and to electronica in Munich, the massive show that represents much of the worldwide electronic components industry. Changes in technology affect us all, regardless of national borders, and we are committed to fostering the indus- try worldwide. r
s always, manufacturing is a hot topic in Washington, especially follow- ing a hotly-contested presidential election. First, it’s important to recog- nize that the U.S. economy has moved massively away from manufac-
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