If Things Get Any Worse, I'll Have To Ask You To Stop Helping Me
EDA vendors need to learn to cooperate and communicate if they have any hope of meeting designers' needs in the coming years. Actually, they need to do this just to stay in business. Vendors must make the transition from their old way of doing things to a new way of doing business. They have to let their protective guards down and enable the development of standards, instead of fighting and/or restricting them. While the initial hurdle of opening up may seem insurmountable, the end result will be renewed customer appreciation and loyalty from the design community at large.
Ultimately, vendors may not really have a choice. As the Internet makes tool availability easier, it also will provide a means for designers to really compare tools. With so many tools to choose from, if one vendor doesn't live up to expectations, designers will simply find another one who can.
The balance of power is shifting. Technology today is being driven by consumer products. This puts an interesting set of demands on the designer, as cost is no longer one of the most important factors in determining which tool to buy. They have to get their designs out quickly and be sure they work properly. There's no room for mistakes. Designers need and demand tools that are easy to work with, will provide reliable results, and are backed by a support team capable of stepping in quickly should a problem occur. They'll talk dollars and go to whatever vendor can provide them with the solution they need.
With that said, it's only fair to point out the great impact that EDA vendors have had on the industry. Look around at the communications products available today. How many of you carry a cellular phone, pager, or Palm Pilot? Without EDA tools, these products wouldn't exist.
And the EDA industry will continue influencing the communications revolution. It will define standards and develop Internet-enabled EDA tools. It will allow the communications carried on in cyberspace to be transparent and seamless for designers and engineers. By leveraging the experience gained in enabling products at the cutting edge of technology, the EDA industry will help more mainstream designers bring advanced products to the market.
I Don't Have A Solution, But I Admire The Problem
There it is. That's my vision of the design industry in the coming years, formulated from discussions with the designers and tool vendors who will play a role in shaping a consumer-electronics-driven future for all of us. Granted, it won't get there overnight. As with anything new, a social change needs to take place in order for it to be fully embraced.
But designers and engineers are typically solitary creatures by nature. They tend to be more at ease in the world of numbers, equations, and schematics than they are in most social circles. Therefore, the idea of a new way of communicating might put a little bit of fear into them.
Then again, perhaps this is exactly why the Internet will play such a crucial role in redefining the way designers and engineers communicate. It won't just allow them to communicate on their terms and in a language they find comfortable. It also will filter out all of the extraneous and potentially uncomfortable communication.
In any event, the reality is that making the transition to a new design environment will be a slow and arduous process. Along the way, the EDA industry will be forced to take a long, hard look at itself, find better methods of leveraging the capabilities enabled by the Internet, and perhaps come up with clever ways of redefining its role.
How, for example, will the industry distribute and price its new Internet-savvy EDA tools? Will traditional business models change and make way for, say, pay-per-use, time-based, transaction-based, or subscription-based models? One thing is certain: Vendors that resist openness and standards are sure to be swept away by the current of companies that will evolve to meet the needs of Internet-based virtual design teams.
Now, our journey into the future is coming to an end. I feel it's my solemn duty to let you know that I could be wrong. After all, if I've learned one thing working in the high-tech sector, it's that nothing is a sure thing when it comes to the electronics industry. All of the rules are meant to be broken.
But I harbor no doubts about the role that the communications revolution will play in singlehandedly redefining the world in which we live. It will change the way we relate and interact with our environment, and it will alter our quality of life. These are undeniable facts.
So, if I got some of the details wrong along the way, I'll just chalk it up to a momentary brain lapse or perhaps even a faulty memory circuit. What can I say? The human brain is just so unreliable these days.
In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed your glimpse into the future and... Oh, excuse me. My wrist-watch/communicator just notified me that I have an incoming video phone call from my mother-in-law. Now, can't some smart designer out there find a way to do something about that?
If Things Get Any Worse, I'll Have To Ask You To Stop Helping Me
EDA vendors need to learn to cooperate and communicate if they have any hope of meeting designers' needs in the coming years. Actually, they need to do this just to stay in business. Vendors must make the transition from their old way of doing things to a new way of doing business. They have to let their protective guards down and enable the development of standards, instead of fighting and/or restricting them. While the initial hurdle of opening up may seem insurmountable, the end result will be renewed customer appreciation and loyalty from the design community at large.
Ultimately, vendors may not really have a choice. As the Internet makes tool availability easier, it also will provide a means for designers to really compare tools. With so many tools to choose from, if one vendor doesn't live up to expectations, designers will simply find another one who can.
The balance of power is shifting. Technology today is being driven by consumer products. This puts an interesting set of demands on the designer, as cost is no longer one of the most important factors in determining which tool to buy. They have to get their designs out quickly and be sure they work properly. There's no room for mistakes. Designers need and demand tools that are easy to work with, will provide reliable results, and are backed by a support team capable of stepping in quickly should a problem occur. They'll talk dollars and go to whatever vendor can provide them with the solution they need.
With that said, it's only fair to point out the great impact that EDA vendors have had on the industry. Look around at the communications products available today. How many of you carry a cellular phone, pager, or Palm Pilot? Without EDA tools, these products wouldn't exist.
And the EDA industry will continue influencing the communications revolution. It will define standards and develop Internet-enabled EDA tools. It will allow the communications carried on in cyberspace to be transparent and seamless for designers and engineers. By leveraging the experience gained in enabling products at the cutting edge of technology, the EDA industry will help more mainstream designers bring advanced products to the market.
I Don't Have A Solution, But I Admire The Problem
There it is. That's my vision of the design industry in the coming years, formulated from discussions with the designers and tool vendors who will play a role in shaping a consumer-electronics-driven future for all of us. Granted, it won't get there overnight. As with anything new, a social change needs to take place in order for it to be fully embraced.
But designers and engineers are typically solitary creatures by nature. They tend to be more at ease in the world of numbers, equations, and schematics than they are in most social circles. Therefore, the idea of a new way of communicating might put a little bit of fear into them.
Then again, perhaps this is exactly why the Internet will play such a crucial role in redefining the way designers and engineers communicate. It won't just allow them to communicate on their terms and in a language they find comfortable. It also will filter out all of the extraneous and potentially uncomfortable communication.
In any event, the reality is that making the transition to a new design environment will be a slow and arduous process. Along the way, the EDA industry will be forced to take a long, hard look at itself, find better methods of leveraging the capabilities enabled by the Internet, and perhaps come up with clever ways of redefining its role.
How, for example, will the industry distribute and price its new Internet-savvy EDA tools? Will traditional business models change and make way for, say, pay-per-use, time-based, transaction-based, or subscription-based models? One thing is certain: Vendors that resist openness and standards are sure to be swept away by the current of companies that will evolve to meet the needs of Internet-based virtual design teams.
Now, our journey into the future is coming to an end. I feel it's my solemn duty to let you know that I could be wrong. After all, if I've learned one thing working in the high-tech sector, it's that nothing is a sure thing when it comes to the electronics industry. All of the rules are meant to be broken.
But I harbor no doubts about the role that the communications revolution will play in singlehandedly redefining the world in which we live. It will change the way we relate and interact with our environment, and it will alter our quality of life. These are undeniable facts.
So, if I got some of the details wrong along the way, I'll just chalk it up to a momentary brain lapse or perhaps even a faulty memory circuit. What can I say? The human brain is just so unreliable these days.
In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed your glimpse into the future and... Oh, excuse me. My wrist-watch/communicator just notified me that I have an incoming video phone call from my mother-in-law. Now, can't some smart designer out there find a way to do something about that?