Chasing the latest trends or keeping your feet on the ground? Keeping up with the pace of technological development

Do I really need that technology? Should I buy it now? If I don't buy it, will I be at a disadvantage? Will I be eliminated because of making the wrong decision? Even if we don't want to be the first mover, the pressure from our peers and the speed of technological change will make us face more similar questions. In the end, we still have to find a way to get back on the right technological track.

Research, staying current with the latest technology, and intuition will help narrow these decisions, but ultimately the choice is between taking a chance and giving up. We embrace change, even if it’s a little reluctant or perhaps a little late.

Things don't always go so smoothly on the consumer electronics front. Regardless of the authority of industry commentators and their enthusiastic support, a large number of consumers still toiled away, replacing Betamax VCRs with VHS (a technically inferior home video system), trading in shiny HD DVD players for Blu-ray, or, earlier, throwing away expensive four-channel stereo record players because of their lack of LP compatibility. And what was the ultimate fate of OS/2?

If all goes well, the impact can be profound. From desktop PCs to cell phones and broadband connections, the move to new technologies can transform our business and personal lives. Sometimes the technology advances are beyond the norm, and sometimes they are even a step backward. The key is to understand the real path to take by using all the information you can collect, to sift through the sand and find the technological "gold". In the end, it's all about staying relevant and choosing the right direction.

To some extent, the same is true for electronic product design technology. The nature of this fast-paced industry is that the latest design technologies and new features will become mainstream very quickly; but in some cases, they will also be lost to better new solutions very quickly. However, one thing is certain, in the field of design engineering, you really need to keep up with the latest technology to stay competitive. You can't just adopt a new development system or technology because it is fashionable, they must simplify and optimize the design and provide a unique competitive advantage.

However, unlike consumer technology trends, the direction of electronic product design technology has a close and objective connection with the design tool provider. This relationship can determine your ability to create successful designs and apply new technologies based on the new technologies, new features implemented, and the frequency of tool updates. Frequent changes in suppliers will cause confusion and potential costs, so this relationship is an important, regular, and long-term relationship.

In conclusion, it is the responsibility of design tool vendors to help you get the latest technology and to deliver it to you as quickly as possible so that it truly reflects the market environment you design for and in. In order for this approach to work, design tool vendors should keep up with design technology trends and make the right smart choices on your behalf. This will avoid those ignorant, inappropriate or simply distracting technology hype and go straight to the new design technologies that are critical to your future projects.

Perhaps more importantly, design tool vendors also have a responsibility to make new technologies more affordable and accessible to designers. It’s all very well and easy to plug in a new feature to a design system to update it in a standalone, dedicated application, but if that feature doesn’t integrate well with the rest of the system or is not understood by engineers in reality, it’s of no value.

To do this, important technologies such as FPGA design must be implemented in such a way that all engineers, both hardware engineers and software application engineers, can easily use this technology in their designs - no lab coats, no clipboards (or expert hardware languages) are required. This concept should be carried through the entire process from concept to prototype design and then to the beginning of development.

The responsibility that development tool vendors have to their customers is indeed significant and at the heart of the relationship. This can and should be achieved through open channels of communication and service that are available to both parties. Live online resources such as forums, feedback channels, design and library data, service update portals, etc. are all part of this chain of channels. It can also include a deep understanding of the design to help you understand the technology and features under development, and even tools that give you the opportunity to try them out.

In today's global electronics industry, keeping up with the pace of electronic product design technology has never been more important. Even if you're the type who jumps on the next Myface social network or pays for the latest Pious hybrid electric car, adopting the latest design technology is inextricably linked to your relationship with the design tool vendors.

The success of this relationship depends on whether the design tool vendor can regularly provide valuable software updates and launch systems that enable you to easily and quickly apply new technologies with existing skills. Ultimately, when adopting important technologies and responding to changes, various barriers such as price, learning cycle and integration must be removed. In other words, the design tool vendor must help you get back on the right technology track and remove barriers to using this technology to pave the way for your success.

{Note] Author: Rob Evans, Technical Editor of Altium Limited
Rob Evans graduated from the Department of Electronic Engineering of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia. He worked as a technical editor at Electronics Australia for many years and has more than 20 years of experience in the field of electronic design and publishing. Rob Evans is currently the technical editor of Altium Limited.