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I just read an interesting article from Deloitte The Mobile Personal Health Record:
Technology-enabled self-care. It included a few factoids I found very interesting with regard to my favorite subject, convergence in healthcare:
From my perspective, the use of technology to simplify, improve and monitor our health is an extremely important part of the next generation of healthcare. That being said, it is a little Orwellian that this data is available and another piece of our privacy is at risk.
Do you think that MCDs will improve the human condition? Or, will the complexities of the Big Brother complex make it impractical?
(1) 2010 Survey of Health Care Consumers: Key Findings, Strategic Implications, Deloitte Center
for Health Solutions, May 2010.
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2011/06/interesting-stats-on-medical-mobile-communications-devices-mcds/#ixzz26jimsSGn
Green – it’s quite the buzzword lately! Consumers are now making purchases based on how green they perceive a manufacturer is. So, what is Molex doing?
We’ll post updates here about Molex’s environmental compliance activities. Do Molex parts have hazardous substances? What is Molex doing to supply only compliant parts? Has Molex gone above and beyond legal requirements? How is Molex leading in this field?
My personal responsibilities include knowing environmental laws globally that impact electronic components, and working with Molex’s divisions to comply with the laws. We also survey our major customers for their requirements and develop our own global set of requirements. I am a member of a committee that includes representatives from each Molex product division. This committee works through the day-to-day challenges and opportunities of designing and selling compliant parts. Additionally, I’m a member of Molex’s Environmental Council, which sets Molex’s policies and drives our compliance activities globally.
If you need environmental information about a Molex connector you have purchased, contact ProductCompliance@molex.com . General questions/comments can be sent to ecocare@molex.com . Anything else – post here and let’s talk about it! We look forward to sharing our product compliance activities with you.
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2010/07/doing-our-part/#ixzz21TTOsSnI
I recently found the opportunity to take a little vacation time, and hopped a plane from Chicago down to the city that care forgot…New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1718, it was once nothing more than a trading camp for furs and goods at the base of the Mississippi River. What a long way the city has come, and survived, in the last nearly 300 years.
While in the city, I got to thinking about all the different blend of things that make up this rich tapestry, and how well it all works. For starters, the food: gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish ettouffe, soft, white catfish…with a stiff, blackened spicy external crust, and don’t get me started on that sweet potato pie! The cultures and accents of the people – what a mixture. The Creole, French immigrants who found their way south, most dwelling in the city; the Cajuns, also French immigrants, that found their way south from Canada, but residing primarily in the outskirts of the city, then intermarriages with German and numerous others settlers created a terrific tapestry of different cultures and people.
How about the music? Known as the birthplace of Jazz, it is still traditional New Orleans flair, with the brass sections so different in sounds, but mixing together so well. The traditional Cajun music, set with heavy accordion, fiddle and guitar. The energetic, can’t-sit-still electrified zydeco music, and the opportunity to watch the rock and heavy blues styling of Louisiana native Kenny Wayne Sheppard. Wow. Spin that with a mixed Hurricane drink and it is as close to nirvana as you can get…..(what do they put in those Hurricanes anyway?)
Along the themes of this city, which enjoys such a rich variety of food, culture, and music, it got me to thinking on my return to Molex, about the unique blends we enjoy here as a company. At Molex, we pride ourselves on “Design anywhere, Manufacture anywhere, Sell anywhere.” With 39 manufacturing locations in 16 countries and over 33,000 employees, we are the most global of all connector companies and have been in business for over 70 years.
In the past 12 months, I have been fortunate to work on several projects. One opportunity was born in the US, is being manufactured in Singapore and then being sold in Taiwan. The other opportunity began in Sweden, was designed in the US and will be manufactured in Shanghai. In both cases above, customers engaged with Molex to help solve a problem in their designs. With the benefit of our relationships between sales and customer and divisional engineering and the manufacturing teams, design solutions were found. In both cases, a unique blend of power and signal pin contacts and layout were created, and in both cases, unique needs were addressed with features that were previously not there. These opportunities came with the need to interact with different cultures, different areas of the organization’s teams, and different time zones. The contributions from all were unique, and the ingredients were blended together to perfectly complement each other.
Looking for something different and unique? Check out our latest offerings of the Molex power connectors. If possible, do it from New Orleans. Like the food, people, and music of New Orleans, Molex offers blends of power and signal connectors for every possible application, with a global flair. Who Dat? MOLEX!
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2012/02/1526/#ixzz2092W7hdQ
I just read an article about Wireless Internet Service Providers(WISPs) in the US and the “Wispapalooza” conference in Las Vegas. The WISPs are obviously establishing wireless links with CPEs in areas where the incumbent DSL suppliers deliver no, bad, or expensive Internet bandwidth to the subscriber. And these WISPs seem to be quite successful: Over the last 12 months they have added 800,000 customers in North America alone.
The story above and my always article-hungry webmaster convinced me to talk about my latest experience with regard to Internet accessibility when we decided to ride the “Pride of Africa” train over 3500 miles from Cape Town South Africa to Dar Es Salaam Tanzania.
Well equipped with a notebook, digital still cameras and a newly bought HDTV camcorder, we started our journey, telling our relatives that this year (last year we were touring the South Sea) they will not get any pictures and we just will try to fill in the travel log which is a shared, but private, blog.
When we arrived in Cape Town, we had a wonderful hotel with wireless Internet access. After we uploaded our first text reports, my wife decided that we should also share the nice pictures we had taken from the waterfront, during our day trip to the Cape of Good Hope, and from the Table Mountain. No problem; I had to download some FTP software in order to access my web page at home, modify some of the picture viewing software online to enable an African album and I uploaded our first pictures at decent speed. Before we left Cape Town on the train, we had already very positive feedback on our text blog. One reason more to continue. Of course there is no Internet on the train, but we were hoping to get WLAN at one of our stops. I had a UMTS USB stick with me which was dedicated for the text blog only. Roaming is too expensive for broadband and the broadband was anyway a narrowband (GPRS) most of the time. Only in Kimberley we had wireless broadband – but time was tight and it was more important to look for the diamonds…
When we settled into the safari lodge I lured onto the roof and into the office. They had a connection, but too weak to be shared with the guests. Anyway, we would have had no time. The morning safaris start at 6:00 AM and the afternoon safaris end at 7:00 PM – time for dinner and no time to play around with the notebook. We entered the train again in Gaborone/Botswana and went on a looong train ride into Zimbabwe until we arrived at the Victoria Falls Hotel. It lists as one of the Leading Hotels of the World, and when you ask for Internet, they give you immediately a wireless access code.
The wall outlets are British ones – our adapters were South African style. Luckily the TV had a cable which fitted into my AC adapter! So – after the first impression in the garden of the hotel, which has a brilliant view to the Victoria Falls and the famous bridge over the lower Zambesi river – let’s hurry up and get more pictures uploaded on the Internet. But surprise surprise, the speed reminded me of the time when I connected at home via a V24 modem. Testing it, I saw 1200 kbps download speed via a network hub in Bulawayo. The upload was in the range of 500 kbps – forget about adding pictures to the gallery.
We saw many mobile phone masts on our way north east through Sambia (where there was no mobile phone connection because of missing roaming agreements) and Tanzania (where we had a mobile phone connection and could do SMS – but no Internet). We also recognized a lot of advertisements from all mobile phone operators in these countries, but why no Internet?
It all has to do with the backhaul. Mobile phone masts can connect to each other via wireless links and these can carry many phone calls, however, when you want to tap in with your iPhone, there is not Internet. Reason being that these bandwidth-hungry terminals would eat up the traffic of thousands of phone calls. If you don’t have fiber connections and you are not close to a network gear, you miss the luxury of your life: The Internet.
Even an RJ-45 jack, an SFP+ 10 Gbps outlet, or a QSFP+ InfiniBand cage does not help, if the network behind these devices (and the high speed backplane connectors therein) are missing.
So, no pictures for the loved ones at home! We finally arrived in Dar Es Salaam, where the police brass band received us with tunes from an Argentinean tango. To make a long story short, we managed to re-book our flights (being in the waiting queue of Lufthansa’s booking hotline is nerve-racking ), we were able to see our changed bookings on the web via the UMTS stick, and we flew out the same evening. Our plane was late so the next morning we had to spend 5 hours in the lounge at Zurich airport, which we used to upload the missing 80 percent of our pictures at rapid speed.
I left the promise I gave to a US citizen in Tau Lodge, Madikwe South Africa on September 28, until I was back home:
I took a 400 MB video clip from his birthday celebration during the farewell evening, which I uploaded in less than 5 minutes onto my web page on my DSL line. I sent him the link and within 24 hours I had an email feedback from Chris & Leslie, stating that “they enjoyed it (the video) almost as much as the surprise birthday”.
Lesson learned: Communication nowadays is not only depending on the last mile, which can be serviced by WISPs if there is no good copper in the ground or no fiber to the home. More important is the network gear behind your DSL access. If the gear is weak, you are suffering. This is also the reason,why the new LTE mobile systems will access the network gear much closer to the subscriber in order to get you the full bandwidth, whether it is for vacation, for fun, or for business reasons.
About the author
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2012/01/it-is-all-about-the-backhaul/#ixzz1yphFs0nL
Not that long ago, an automobile was thought of strictly as a mode of transportation. Sure, cars became a way that people used to define themselves by the cost, speed, or sex appeal of the automobile they drove; but the car was still just a way to get from point A to point B.
Buyers’ demands for more comfort led to many improvements throughout the automobile from seating to ride control to better sounding radios. However, in just the past few years, the demand for driver and occupant “creature features” has exploded. Now people want studio quality sound systems, theater quality movie systems and connectivity 24/7. They want to know where they are, where they’re going and how to get there (navigation). They want access to their office, access to the internet and immediate access to any data needed for them to be able to communicate with business contacts, family and friends.
Consumers are also demanding greater safety in the cars they drive, which has led to products like airbags (up to 12 per vehicle), ABS, electronic stability control, lane change assist, traction control, back-up cameras and crash avoidance. In addition to the changes initiated by the consumers, there have been many other changes that have been dictated by the government, including the demand for better gas mileage and cleaner emissions that have spawned a wide variety of new engine controls and devices. These days, it’s difficult to determine if car-buying decisions are made based on how fast a car can go, how well it handles, or whether or not it has Bluetooth capability and an MP3 player dock.
Fortunately for Molex, we design, manufacture and sell products that are used in all areas of the car. We make products that are utilized in engine control modules, such as our UPI products, MX123, CMC and custom hybrid connectors. These custom products have been utilized in engine and transmission control modules on most of the global car manufacturers’ vehicles for the past two decades.
Molex has products used in car entertainment systems like our Customer Convenience Port (CCP), HSAutoLink
, MOST, Fakra, copper flex circuits and FFC/FPC connectors. CCP and HSAutoLink are used to optimize the power supply and connectivity to high speed audio, video displays, CD players, DVD players and navigation devices. CCP custom options include full I/O integration with optional HSAutoLink, USB, SD memory card, HDMI, IEEE 1394, Ethernet, Bluetooth and auxiliary jack media ports.
We also make connectors used in brake modules, transmission modules and steering controls, like MX150, Stac64, Mini-Fit
H2O and MOX to name just a few. MX150 comes in sealed and unsealed versions that deliver superior sealing and electrical performance in low level power applications up to 22 amps. Designed for direct wire-to-board connections, these connectors are used in high temperature, underhood and chassis systems throughout the vehicle and they perform to the highest automotive standards. The Stac64 product family offers a stackable, modular housing connector system to gang headers together in telematics, navigation and instrumentation, as well as other applications. This space-saving header and receptacle system is molded in standard USCAR color schemes and can ship preassembled for ease of assembly.
Regardless of what feature was responsible for motivating an individual to buy a particular car – Chances are good that a Molex product was involved.
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2012/01/car-or-computer-or-entertainment-center/#ixzz1xVpG6LrH
Several years ago, Molex joined a group of companies and government organizations to prove that Solid-State Lighting could be used to provide excellent quality lighting within our homes and offices while dramatically reducing the energy use in the building. The organization is called the ZEBRA (Zero Energy Building Research Alliance) and is a collaboration between the Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, and Schaad Companies.
The objective of the alliance was to evaluate a variety of building technologies, heating and cooling methods, lighting approaches, and appliances to determine which are the most cost effective and have the highest performance. Four homes were constructed in Oak Ridge, Tennessee just outside the “gates” of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. There were two pairs of homes with homes one and two being identical in appearance, but with entirely different approaches for the construction of them. The same is true for homes three and four. If you would like to learn more details about how the homes were constructed, please visit www.zebralliance.com.
Molex’s part in the project was to provide the lighting design for house #4 as well as provide the light sources for this home. Home #3, which was the sister home for the project, was lit with conventional CFL high efficiency light sources.
At the time this project was being completed in the spring of 2010, the SSL light sources we had available to us were the Molex Transcend product line. The LED source for these lights was a single AC LED produced by Seoul Semiconductor. It provided roughly 150 lumens of warm (3000K) light and consumed 4 Watts of power. The efficacy of this light source was not nearly as high as the 60-70 lumens per Watt that we are currently providing but with proper lighting design, we have been able to achieve some amazing results.
Kevin Willmorth of Lumenique LLC did the lighting design for house number 4. He completed a lighting simulation for the home and determined where and how many light sources would be needed. Because each source only provided 150 lumens, more sources would be needed to be able to properly distribute the light throughout the rooms. Today, with our 1200 lumen light sources, we could easily reduce the number of sources required to light the same space.
After the homes were completed in the summer of 2010, the public was allowed to tour the homes and to provide comments and feedback on the “look and feel” of the demonstration projects. The feedback from the visitors was very positive on the look of home number 4. They liked the “dramatic” look of the lighting in that the lights were directly at the locations where light was needed.
As we all know, CFL lighting is very non-directional and when it is placed into a room, the fluorescent sources light the ceiling, walls, and fixtures, as much as they light the surfaces, which is where we would actually like to have light. Please see the two attached pictures to see the difference in the look of home 3 and 4.
Some of the comments we received is that the LED space had more drama, more task light and less glare. But was also of interest to the researchers was that it used 60% less energy to do a better job of lighting the space.
One year later in September of 2011, we have one year of data. The homes have been monitored and data collected on their performance for one year. Dr. Bill Miller from Oak Ridge, who was responsible for the design and build of the homes, called us and said that the performance of the LED lit home was even better than they had expected. The data shows that the LED-lit home actually uses 80% less energy than the CFL-lit home. This result is dramatic if one considers the fact that the CFL is thought to be the most energy efficient light source currently available.
It is expected that as the cost of Solid-State Lighting comes down over the next several years to the point that this will be the only good option for high quality, dimmable, and low energy use lighting, that the United States could reduce its energy use by the equivalent of 150 large power plants.
Although it is taking longer than most of us have expected it to, Solid-State Lighting will be ready to replace both incandescent lights and CFLs in the next several years. With efficacies of 80 lumens per Watt, they are 6 times more efficient than our old “bulbs” and now they have been shown to be at least 3 times as efficient as CFLs.
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2011/10/why-solid-state-lighting-could-reduce-our-energy-needs-by-50-over-cfls/#ixzz1wGuv63Vf
Think about it, the trends today in consumer electronics is not “bigger is better.” Yes, Americans have gone to great lengths to buy bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger dogs, and if you’re a passionate golfer like myself – a bigger driver. However, when it comes to consumer gaming systems, computers, tablets, notebook PCs, DVRs, smartphones, digital music players, electronics readers or digital cameras; we want them to be smaller, thinner, lighter, more portable, consume less power and last for weeks without a charge. We hate replacing batteries or picking up our favorite device to find that is dead. Gadget makers are having to pack more features in a smaller or similar footprint with stronger batteries. We want to take our consumer gadgets with us everywhere and anywhere. Kids today are filling backpacks when they go on vacation not with books, but with all the consumer devices that they must have with them on a 3-hour flight. Thank goodness for Molex Evaldi (503700 series) audio earbud headsetsMolex Evaldi (503700 series) audio earbud headsets (shown below), so parents don’t have to hear these video soundbites 24/7. 
I have seen this trend for coming for the past 10 years. Recently as a Product Manager for Molex’s Micro Products Division, I am front and center on this crusade to help design engineers and marketing minds develop smaller micro board-to-board connectors with more robust features to deliver better mechanical reliability, in the same small PCB real estate. When people ask what I do, I tell them I sell real estate to guys designing printed circuit boards. Molex Microminiature connectors add value by consuming less space on the PCB. If you’re designing connectors for I/O, getting on the edge of the board is like buying oceanfront property in Hawaii. It’s expensive space, so they need small microminiature solutions from Molex.
Today, Molex micro b-to-b products are the lowest profile in the industry, with a height of 0.70mm and a narrow footprint width of 2.50mm to maximize the board space. Our SlimStack 503304/503308 series (shown below) and SlimStack 503548 / 503552 series HRF products provide you more features in 30% less space.
These microminiature connectors make smartphones thinner and smaller to make portable gaming systems more fun with 3D experience. Devices come with WiFi-enabled features so kids can send text messages to each other while waiting in the doctor’s office or in school. But what’s next? What are the future needs of the design engineering community to make that next generation consumer gadget? Do our micro connectors need to be bulletproof, splashproof, waterproof, or drop-proof and even data-proof. The answer is yes!.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could send bits and bytes at high speed signals through our micro flex connector, board connector or micro coax wire connectors with 100% data integrity and achieve speed up to 6-10 Gbps and minimal insertion loss?
Well, I can tell you that Molex Micro Products Division has an active pipeline in our R&D that is working on new technology solutions to address these needs. So visit our website and stay in touch as we release new technologies for microminiature solutions. We are the leaders in this microminiature connector space.
Look at the latest Digital Still Cameras or SLRs that are coming for this holiday season. Camera techies want more megapixels, more buttons, larger LCD displays, more features for HD video, better zoom or auto-focus capabilities, larger memory card capabilities, and faster read/write speed — but camera must be thinner and lighter. Did you ever ask yourself, how can they do that? Molex is enabling the technology with solutions like the smallest micro SD memory card connector (503398 series)micro SD memory card connector (503398 series)with an ultra thin profile height of 1.28mm. Not to mention the space saving 0.20mm front flip FPC connector (503419 series) that is less than 1mm tall at 0.9mm. How about our http://www.molex.com/molex/products/family?key=picoezmate&channel=products&chanName=family&pageTitle=IntroductionMolex Pico-EZmate 78171/78172 seriesMolex Pico-EZmate 78171/78172 serieshttp://www.molex.com/molex/products/family?key=picoezmate&channel=products&chanName=family&pageTitle=Introduction 1.20mm micro wire-to-board solution that can handle 1.5A per circuit to power the connection for your newest battery pack design?
Molex has developed a marketing campaign with Core-Micro Products-2011, This is a list of our top 160 series of core products that we want you to design into your next electronic device. Molex is promoting our Core Micro Products for long term availability with a 10-year commitment for product life cycle., So if you have a long product lifecycle that you must support from concept to launch to maturity and then EOL, Molex Core Micro Products can help. See brochure 987650-6154 .
Are you not convinced yet that Molex microminiature connectors are the Holy Grail for the consumer electronics market? Today, you can purchase a 40inch LCD TV that is less than 3” thick, but only weighs as much as a 25 lb bag of potatoes, and can be hung on a wall by your average grandparent (not the Hulk). These digital TVs today come with HDMI, micro SD, and DisplayPort connectors from Molex as standard microminiature I/O interfaces, with many of our 0.40mm SlimStack board-to-board, and Easy-On FPC flex-to-board solutions on the inside that make it all possible.
So if you were to ask me, how are microminiature connectors from Molex changing the world we live in today? I would say, just look at what technology or device your kids, grandkids and grandparents are using or viewing today. Molex microminiature solutions are everywhere inside, enabling these technologies to get smaller, lighter, and better. They are the “Holy Grail” of the connector industry. Design them in your next device and you will see why.
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2011/10/bigger-is-not-better-%e2%80%93-molex-microminiature-connectors-are-the-holy-grail-for-consumer-electronics-design-community/#ixzz1t9qB0TtG
We are all carrying more devices that constantly need to be recharged. How many of you have either forgotten your chargers or used that “USB” charger that did not properly work on your USB device? Although it seems to be a simple thing to deliver power to a device, when done incorrectly it can fail to recharge, waste precious energy, or in the worst case, damage the product. None of these scenarios lead to a satisfied consumer. In the transportation industry, we also complicate the issue with how and what type of power is being delivered to the I/O port that will power our device.
In all these cases, it is critical that the designer be capable: have knowledge on the industry, device, and vehicle standards that will impact the needs of the charging lines. Then and only then can they design a system that will deliver the system the way the user device wants to receive it, manage the power output to exactly what the charging device wants to see, protect the device in case of a surge or if it is non-compliant.
Molex CCP (Customer Convenience Port) design brings this expertise to our customers. Working with current, developing or future USB standards, we offer designs today that can service the wide variety of portable devices including the need to provide 2+ A of charging power to tablets that need this to charge and function at the same time. Today, Molex is delivering pass through, power ports and full hubs to the industry that support these wide variety of needs.
What is coming? Some interesting features promised by USB 3.0 standards where we will be able to deliver more power more efficiently to charge devices like notebook computers in a way that does not waste energy by not matching it to the charging device’s exact needs. It is an exciting time in the infotainment segment of the transportation industry so make sure you design it right and look to Molex to make sure you do.
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2011/12/automotive-device-charging-challenges/#ixzz1reGCqv00
You may have already read about my 50:50:50 rule when it comes to the choice using tin plated surfaces versus gold plated surfaces in connectors. This rule says tin is the more economical solution if you have less than 50 contacts (mating forces), if you can live with 50 mating cycles (contact normal forces), and if you do not expect less than 50 milliohms contact resistance over life time. The higher contact normal forces for tin plated surfaces (>2 Newton end of life) result in higher mating forces which limit the amount of contacts in a given connector and the un-noble tin does have a higher contact resistance, compared to gold or nickel palladium.
Besides these basic rules there are some other limitations where gold (or palladium nickel) must be used:
Especially the 3rd item created a lot of confusion in the industry when lead-free tin surfaces were introduced years ago. FFC connectors do have contact spacing below 1mm and the connector industry strongly recommended the use of gold-plated FFC connectors which connect either FPCs or FFCs, however, the cable industry was not yet able to supply gold plated FFC cables. So some designers were forced to mate gold-plated FFC connectors with tin-plated FFC cables, a mortal sin when it comes to reliability!
Gold and tin in one mated connector system is a no go. The behavior of these two platings is not well researched, however, the standard electrode potentials tell you that the contact point will corrode (gold = +1,5V tin = +0,15V – look at your rainwater gutter when copper meets zinc) and the reliability is gone.
Years ago, I asked Molex’s contact physics guru about this subject in a special case and this was his in-depth answer:
I would stay away from the mixed metal contact. It’s never recommended that gold be mated to tin. If it’s unavoidable, than use a lubricant to mitigate the effects due to oxidation and fretting corrosion. This should be tested thoroughly using appropriate thermal cycling and vibration tests. In addition, immersion tin over copper may not be adequate, as significant intermetallic compound formation (IMC) may occur, which would decrease the reliability of the system.
Needless to say, since the system seems fairly well sealed (and assuming outgasing of the package is not an issue), the gold-to-gold system would be expected to be the most reliable (and I assume reliability is very important for safety reasons). On the other hand, a good tin-to-tin system with no IMC issues may work as well (unless fretting corrosion is a problem). Since the system looks fairly well sealed and mechanically stable, fretting may not be a problem. However, to be sure, testing for fretting should be done. As mentioned above, appropriate thermal cycling and vibration tests should be conducted. As a safety factor, if tin-to-tin is used, I recommend using nickel under plate and a lubricant to reduce the impact of oxidation, fretting corrosion and IMC formation.
In summary, my first recommendation is to use gold-to-gold. Tin-to-tin may work but needs to be thoroughly tested for fretting corrosion, oxidation and IMC formation. Gold-to-tin is not recommended as it is well know that the reliability risk is greatly increased when these dissimilar metals are mated.
Nothing to add to these statements. So when it comes to plating surfaces, prefer gold-to-gold (nickel-palladium-to-gold is tested and accepted in the industry!), use tin-to-tin when cost is an issue, but do not use mixed platings within the same connector system.
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2011/12/gold-or-tin-versus-gold-and-tin/#ixzz1pfzF0k5N
It was just 10 years ago. Apple released the iPod, a device that boasted capabilities of carrying “1000 songs in your pocket.” It had a full 5GB of hard drive capability, with a black and white LCD screen, priced at just $399. It was in this same year that Apple made a decision to stop using translucent colored plastics on the large egg shaped desktop computers, the iMacG3. The computer was a lot of money, but I remember writing the check (and presenting 2 forms of ID) for the iMacG3. What a dynamite desktop; I was thrilled. It carried with it a full 256MB of RAM! What seemed an outrageous leap forward for technology 10 years ago would be nearly unusable today. With the advantage of retrospect, I wish I would have invested the $1299. I spent on the iMacG3 into Apple stock instead. At the time, the stock was priced at a scant $17.83 per share, now dependant on the fickle market, it hovers in the range of $400. per share…but I digress..
We live today in a need it now society, and we have been largely spoiled by the leaps and bounds our technology has taken. Can you imagine still needing to go to the library archives to do research on that important project? How about gathering any information? It was not so long ago, we went to that stationary desktop computer, usually connected to the wall by a rat’s nest of cables, to retrieve information. When you used the computer, you went to the computer. It was unthinkable to have the computer come with you. How about the speeds of gathering information, and data transfer rates, not to mention the time to access that superhighway? Remember, many computers still used a dial up modem to get onto the internet. (ReBrreeerrrrrrrreeeeaa…ummwaamp, umm wamp…) and then just 240 seconds later you were connected!
The thought of needing to go to a single location and a single computer in order to get connectivity and information seems downright archaic, let along having to plug in the device to reach the internet. We are now un-tethered.
Next time you are waiting in line to get your $2.50 cup of coffee, look around to see how many people are conversing on their handhelds, checking e-mails or texting on smart phones, reading a book recently downloaded on a e-reader, or streaming a movie on their tablet. Imagine years from now explaining the concept of a newspaper to the future generations. A posting of current events in ink on paper, printed daily, and each page needs to be physically turned, rather than snapping off a swoosh motion with your index finger to flip the page. Does any child under the age of 15 know the challenge of folding a map, let alone reading one? Either grab the GPS, or MapQuest it!
This is where our technology and gadgets have come in just 10 short years, but where are we going to? Demand for new devices and improvements seem insatiable. Customers are asking OEM’s for smaller, thinner, faster downloads, less power usage, longer run times, lighter weights, and of course, less expensive solutions. In turn, OEM’s ask Molex for our assistance and ideas in product design challenges. We partner with these OEM’s to create solutions to help make their end applications for the consumer better. Take for example the consumer products mentioned above in the coffee shop. To connect the speakers and power in that tablet, Pico-EZmate is used. A .047” wire to board solution, it is compact, low profile (with a mated height of just .061”) and is offered in circuit sizes 2 to 6. Its locking feature makes it a good fit for a consumer application. To charge and synchronize data on that smart phone, designs utilize the Molex Micro-USB. The product allows for a thin, light, but robust connection, as well as greater portability of the users device. It is offered in mid mount, bottom mount or vertical styles, which offers flexibility to the product designer. The Micro-USB has blind mating and solid lead in features. Built with a robust metal shell, it can withstand more than the average bumps and bruises consumers put on a phone. Designers trust the Molex microSIM card connectors as a means to secure credit card numbers and billing information as consumers order goods and services “on the go”. The microSIM is offered in a host of options including block style, push/push, hinged and tray styles. To connect the touch screen or front panel of the e-reader, use an 0.50mm FFC connector. It features a sturdy actuator to lock the cable into place, assuring that contact pressure is retained and the cable is held firmly in place. Harsh handling of consumer devices requires high reliability. Nobody wants an intermittent screen as your mystery novel is winding down to the final chapter. Lastly, SD cards are used for downloads of maps, pictures or to upgrade new software for that GPS device. Copper alloy used for base metal contacts and gold plating insure the reliability and the durability consumers not only expect, but demand.
As I stood in line for coffee on Saturday, I read reviews on the latest Apple product that is supposed to be the big must have gadget for this holiday season. I can’t wait to check out the latest advancements. However, I just know 10 years from now I’ll be kicking myself for not putting my hard earned money into that Apple stock instead.
Read More From The Connector by Molex: http://www.connector.com/2011/11/%e2%80%9cit%e2%80%99s-a-need-it-now%e2%80%9d-society-in-which-we-live/#ixzz1oXuZV2aT
