Electronic Design: Any other final thoughts you want to share before we wrap up?
PEASE: I'd like to follow up on my earlier point that supply and demand is a cruel mistress. Is there demand for digital? Well, it seems to be. Is there some supply? Yeah. What do you pay for? Well, you pay for what you get, and you pay for a surcharge for what you think you want even though you don't really need that junk.
GILBERT: There is one other thing that’s worth mentioning. The recent marriage between the radio and the computer has led to a new view of system design. And that’s a whole arena in itself. We’ve been talking as if we’re keen to teach analog cell design, which I certainly am and I’m sure Bob is, but there’s an increasing demand for systems engineers—people who understand how to marry the computer to the op amp or to the radio receiver. And it’s the integrated-circuit potential—the capabilities of integrated circuits—and their limitations that are shaping many new techniques.
For example, Bluetooth is a very easy thing to implement because it takes into account the technologies on which it is realized. In contrast, GSM is a very tough thing to implement because the people who sat around the table and talked about their Groupe Systeme Mobile hoped that it could all be done and they never worried about it. In fact, there’s a very thick book on the GSM system, and it doesn’t even talk about electronics. So this fusion, this marriage, this concord between the system needs and the way in which those systems will be implemented is stronger than it used to be.
PEASE: Good point.
Electronic Design: Any other points to make as we finish?
PEASE: Wait a minute! We have to say something bad about Ted, if we can, but I can't, so....
Electronic Design: Well, all this badmouthing of digital has taken advantage of Ted's early departure.
GILBERT: Quite honestly, I know that was a joke, but the discussion wasn't really badmouthing—it was a sincere expression of the problem. The problem being that electronics is viewed as digital and someone comes to the rescue with high-speed processors because you need them for speech processing and so on. The common view is that it's got to be done digitally and unfortunately that's not true.
PEASE: We agree. Hey, what a good place to stop.
Electronic Design: Gentlemen, thank you for your contributions today. We really appreciate your taking the time to participate in this really fascinating conversation.