The triple convergence in instrumentation.

While catching up on some reading, I recently finished The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman. In this discussion of the technological trends driving corporate structures, economics, and politics in the 21st century, he focuses on technologies accessible to all businesses and social groups. His thoughts seem particularly applicable to today's LXI marketplace. Specifically, LXI instrument sales haven't taken off like a rocket. But as Friedman discusses, several ingredients are necessary before that can happen.

He speaks about the triple convergence that has led to rapid technology acceptance in familiar areas. For the first convergence, he says all the core technologies and trends that enable momentous changes in the way we live and work "have been around ... but they had to spread and take root and connect with one another to work their magic ..."

The same holds true for LXI. Not the Ethernet, the Internet, nor Web pages are new anymore. We've been cross-triggering instruments for decades. But now, through LXI, all these things are coming together.

For the second convergence, he notes, "The big spurts in productivity come when a new technology, or a new platform of technologies, is combined with new ways of doing business, and this always takes time." Again this statement is right on for LXI, which makes us look at instrument-system design in a new way. We just need to become familiar and comfortable with these new methods. Especially because test engineers are conservative, this will take time.

As for the third convergence, Friedman looks toward a global workforce, one where individuals worldwide have access to jobs due to outsourcing, offshoring, supply-chaining, and insourcing. He states, "Three billion people who have been locked out of the field suddenly found themselves liberated to plug and play with everyone else."

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Well, I don't think we can expect three billion LXI users, but the principle is still valid. LXI will open up the use of complex instrument systems to a much wider range of scientists and engineers who will easily share data without limitations.

A final statement he makes seems very appropriate: "Once a standard takes hold, people start to focus on the quality of what they are doing as opposed to how they are doing it ... once everyone could connect with everyone else, they got busy on the real value add, which was coming up with the most useful and nifty software applications to enhance collaboration, innovation, and creativity."

This, indeed, is the heart of LXI. And if we can extrapolate Friedman's theories to the instrumentation field, then LXI has a very bright future.

Paul Schreier, Editor

paul@pspr.biz