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www.us-tech.com
Tech-Op-ed February, 2016
SOUNDING OFF
By Walter Salm Editor Emeritus
Changing the Guard I
f 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 sur- prised that I have lasted this long. I have not actually stepped down as the
title might suggest, but instead have curtailed some of my involvement with the publication and taking on a new role. At the age of 82, I’m getting a little bit tired, slowing down, and my job function is changing. I will be missing APEX this year for a number of reasons, not the least of which is a potential problem getting around the much larger venue of the Las Vegas Convention Center, even with a rented electric scooter. The last time I missed APEX was when I had open-heart surgery in 2013. Another problem: my wife and associate editor has been very ill for some
time now. Several months ago, she found that she was no longer able to help me on U.S. Tech, which only added to my workload. Now, due to a fall and a broken hip followed by some serious pneumonia and other complications, she has been hospitalized since September 16, and is relearning how to walk and swallow at an excellent nursing/rehabilitation facility here in Chico. I have to squeeze in a daily visit to the nursing home, regardless of my work deadlines. She will be coming home soon, so I need to be here. In addition to my editori- al duties, I will become a caregiver. The bright light in all of this gloom is Michael Skinner, who has joined
the staff as an assistant editor, and has plowed through a ton of editorial work with a level of energy that leaves me gasping and envious. He is a good writer and a hard worker, and we are grooming him to eventually replace me. He’s a very quick study and walked the most recent SMTAI Show with me (he walked, I rode my rented electric scooter), soaking up the technology like a sponge, and I had several mentoring sessions with him during the show. I have become the “Professor” going over his files and “grading his papers” making needed changes and adding pithy commentary at the end of each ar- ticle. Jacob has started calling me “The Coach” and I guess the title fits. Giv- en my level of ongoing involvement, the title of “Editor Emeritus” is a little bit premature, but represents a state of mind that accepts the fact that I will actually be retiring soon. Even after that happens, I will continue to keep an eye on things, probably writing for the Op Ed page for each issue for as long as my fingers can type and/or until I run out of things to write about — some- thing that I seriously doubt will ever happen. I will continue to look for and report on new and evolving technologies
on our front page. An example of this is the new push for controlled fusion as an energy source. Remember the cold-fusion nonsense of 26 years ago? Every- body was jumping on the bandwagon, including U.S. Tech, and I eagerly re- ported on this wonderful new source of “free” or at least “very inexpensive” energy. We had some red faces when we discovered that the whole thing was a monumental screw-up in reading lab results; some cried “hoax” and either way, we had been taken in. The Fleishmann-Pons room-temperature “cold” fusion process was presented very logically by two scientists who had excel- lent credentials. I’m not sure if they deliberately misled the public or if they had misinterpreted their test results. In any event, the announcement of their findings, too good to be true, set off a wave of cold fusion hysteria in the media. I think they really did believe that they had something, and the world was only too happy to go bonkers over this miraculous new technology that turned out to be non-existent. And we were part of the stampede. Today’s take on fusion as a power source is much more realistic, recog-
nizing the need for massive pressure and ultra-high temperatures, in effect creating a miniature sun in the reactor. It’s a very costly proposition, but there are many venture capitalists willing to throw lots of money at it. The al- ternative is to allow polluters and those who deny the reality of global warm- ing to ultimately ruin our Planet Earth. There’s big money backing the nay- sayers, but fusion is attracting even bigger bucks, and ultimately, this is where the payoff will be, if there’s still a Planet Earth left to save. r
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
By Jacob Fattal Publisher
for APEX in Las Vegas in March. APEX is by far the most important single show for the U.S. electronics manufacturing industry, and this year, it will be bigger and better than ever. APEX will reside in the cavernous Las Vegas Convention Center, which has all the room that’s needed and then some. Ac- tually, the show will probably occupy only one hall, but the venue’s size and location make it very inconvenient, unless you’re staying at the nearby Las Vegas Hilton. There is a form of mass transit called the Monorail, which con- nects most of the larger hotels on the Strip, then loops around to stations at the Convention Center and the Hilton. If you have a rental car, leave it at your hotel; parking is at a premium in the Convention Center area. This is definite- ly not the subway in New York or Philadelphia, so if that’s what you’re used to, forget it. A possible alternative is to have a designated driver — someone who can hoof it back to the hall after dropping off the booth crew and parking the rental car some distance away. As usual, U.S. Tech will be covering the show from wall to wall, our
It’s Showtime Again O
March issue will carry a large Product Preview section, and we’ll all probably eat too much of that rich Las Vegas food. It’s a new year and U.S. Tech is in the process of making important
changes, started during 2015. Last year, we expanded our staff, and the lat- est addition is Assistant Editor Michael Skinner, who is an excellent writer, but still has a monumental learning experience ahead of him. He has been at- tending trade shows with us, learning very quickly about what it takes to pro- duce a top trade publication, and we all expect great things from him. Other expansions at U.S. Tech have included an upgrade to our web site as well as to our social media. One of the undercurrents at the show, and at all of this year’s trade
shows will be ongoing market situation caused by China’s twice-devalued cur- rency. World stock markets have been in upheaval since the beginning of the year in response to the second devaluation of the renminbi. This has, in effect, cranked up China’s printing presses, and many of the world’s economies may be on the verge of going into the toilet. This will not happen in the U.S., main- ly because of the country’s continuing strong economy. U.S. unemployment is at an all-time low, fed in large part by an active and successful onshoring/reshoring program. The big question now is what the U.S. financial market will do in coming months, since it strongly reflects financial markets in Europe and the Far East. The dollar continues to be strong against the Eu- ro, gaining significant ground over the last several months. Will this change in exchange rate continue or level off? And what is going to happen to China and its once-burgeoning economy? This will certain- ly be a year for large changes. r
ne 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
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