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Electronics Career Game Changers

dougw
  • When the hand-held electronic calculator became available, it was a game changer in reducing design time. 
  • When the PC hit the streets it was an even bigger game changer, with word processing, spreadsheets and CAD.
  • When the Internet took off, it was an even bigger game changer, with search engines and massive information repositories.
  • The advent of affordable low-cost electronics (pioneered by the TI MSP430 for $4.30) made made it feasible for individuals to participate.
  • The Arduino IDE forced the era of low-cost IDEs.
  • The Raspberry Pi maintained the pressure to make electronics affordable, now carried on by Risk V.
  • Element14 changed the game for me, providing much of the instrumentation in my lab, lots of project material and lots of interaction with interesting technical people.
  • When the price of custom PCBs dropped below $1 it totally changed how I do prototyping.
  • The next big game changer is AI. I'm not sure I want to embrace it, but it is a reality.
  • Beyond this, AI and technology will morph into human augmentation. (the cell phone is just a precursor to the "Internet of People")
  • I am not thrilled with cell phones (they were not a game changer in my career) and I am not thrilled about the prospect of human augmentation, even though one vector is longer lifespans.

What events, products and technologies were game changers for you?

Did video games influence your career?

Did Napster blow you away?

Was the open source movement life changing? GitHub?

Parents

  • Maybe not for my career, but for everyday life:

    * GPS maps with directions. I had TomTom early on, for when I was driving to clients’ houses for energy assessments. Then a few cars had some form of map guidance, now it’s mostly Google Maps for me.

    * Digital shared calendar. This made it so much easier to coordinate with my wife and stay on top of what was scheduled.

    I bet there’s a few more I’m not even aware of anymore Laughing 

    ps, yes also to all of the above that Doug mentions!

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    I want to also add smart-home automations, but I think they are less game-changer, and more just a convenience.

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Are we talking X10 or WiFi or a newer cloud based system (or all of the above)?

  • in reply to dougw

    I have about a dozen Z-Wave devices (mainly switches and plugs, but also thermostats) through BC Hydro's HydroHome Hub, and about a dozen WiFi switches and plugs from a few different vendors, but mainly through SmartLife.

    I also have a few security cameras, mainly Eufy because I like their long battery life, no subscription needed, local hub (avoiding WiFi issues) and local storage. I also have a WiFi Canary camera and 2 Gate WiFi camera-smart-locks because I used to work for them Smiley

    All of it depends on a cloud-based service, and most of the switches and plugs are controllable via Alexa. For example, we can tell Alexa "goodnight" and it turns off all the lights.

    It's one of those things where once you try a few smart devices you get hooked and next thing you know the house is covered in them Laughing

    I've been considering switching over to using Home Assistant for local control, but I don't know if that's worth the effort - I still want to have remote control as well as Alexa control.

    And... with great technology comes great effort to keep things running Sweat smile  - I'm still fighting the technology to get the Telus WiFi-6 mesh system stable. And today I tried to move one of the Gate smart locks to the new Smart Home network, and it won't re-connect. sigh Cry. that's a known issue I hope they can clear up for me soon.

    I wonder if there are many others here on element14 that have smart homes, and may be seeing issues like mine?

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  • in reply to dougw

    I have about a dozen Z-Wave devices (mainly switches and plugs, but also thermostats) through BC Hydro's HydroHome Hub, and about a dozen WiFi switches and plugs from a few different vendors, but mainly through SmartLife.

    I also have a few security cameras, mainly Eufy because I like their long battery life, no subscription needed, local hub (avoiding WiFi issues) and local storage. I also have a WiFi Canary camera and 2 Gate WiFi camera-smart-locks because I used to work for them Smiley

    All of it depends on a cloud-based service, and most of the switches and plugs are controllable via Alexa. For example, we can tell Alexa "goodnight" and it turns off all the lights.

    It's one of those things where once you try a few smart devices you get hooked and next thing you know the house is covered in them Laughing

    I've been considering switching over to using Home Assistant for local control, but I don't know if that's worth the effort - I still want to have remote control as well as Alexa control.

    And... with great technology comes great effort to keep things running Sweat smile  - I'm still fighting the technology to get the Telus WiFi-6 mesh system stable. And today I tried to move one of the Gate smart locks to the new Smart Home network, and it won't re-connect. sigh Cry. that's a known issue I hope they can clear up for me soon.

    I wonder if there are many others here on element14 that have smart homes, and may be seeing issues like mine?

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