It simply cannot be true! How can Electronic Design be 50 years old? We feel like we're still only 25! We're a vibrant magazine covering a vibrant industry. There must be a mistake; we demand a recount!
Okay, Electronic Design will, in fact, be turning 50 later this year—in December, to be exact. We are actually so excited and delighted at the prospect, we couldn't wait to begin. That's why we're getting right to it, launching our 50th anniversary celebration with this first issue of the year. We intend to party all year long. From now on, you will find anniversary-related editorial in every issue and on our Web site (www.elecdesign.com) every day.
Special editorial features: There is much to tell you. In the magazine, we've scheduled special 50th anniversary editorial in five issues throughout the year. We start here in our 2002 Top 10 Forecast by predicting where the industry will head this year. Later, we'll check out Killer Technologies in April; dig into design and test tools in our Power Tools special in June; and size up the most sizzling market segments in September's Killer Apps issue.
It will all come together in October, when Electronic Design will publish a Golden Anniversary Special Issue to cap our 50th year and acknowledge, in a special way, the industry that has shaped the world in which we all live. While we will be taking a little time to review a few of our past accomplishments, our real focus will be on our readers, on the leaders and visionaries who steered the course, on the ground-breaking companies that cast their dreams in silicon and steel, and on the future, as we look ahead to what the next 50 years may bring.
Your participation is key: We are turning to you, our reader, to provide valuable input that will determine and shape a large part of our anniversary editorial. Reader participation, through Web polling, is the linchpin of our year-long celebration. With our program of reader polls, we will pose questions in the magazine, you can respond to those questions via our Web site, and we'll publish the results in the first available issue. Some of the questions will be just for fun, while others will be more serious. We trust they will enhance your reading experience. Perhaps, you would like to suggest your own questions for other readers to answer. We'd be happy to consider your suggestions; e-mail them to me directly or use our Web site.
In addition, you will be able to vote for your choice of best milestone events from the ones the editors have selected for the timelines in this issue, or let us know which major milestone or milestones you think we missed. Your votes will determine the all-time 50 top milestones, which will be published in our October commemorative issue.
Engineering Hall Of Fame: Behind every industry advance, there is an individual who put in long hours, and possibly an entire career, to make that breakthrough possible. As part of its Golden Anniversary, Electronic Design is establishing its Engineering Hall Of Fame to honor the profession's most noteworthy individuals. It's our way of thanking the design engineers who have been the hallmark of our very existence and, indeed, our very name. Right from its start, Electronic Design has pointedly focused its editorial on design. In fact, we were the first publication to do so (see Retrospective on the next page).
The editors will be nominating individuals whose contributions cut across a wide swath of technologies. As with the milestones, you can vote for your choices and propose your own candidates.
In every issue: Finally, as part of our anniversary celebration, we are launching a new column called Flashback, which replaces Forty Years Ago starting with this issue. Flashback offers you nuggets of exciting technology developments from 10, 25, and 40 years ago. And from now on, you can look for our 50th anniversary page, Celebrating 50 Years Of Technology, in every issue (see page 26). This page will report on the latest reader polling results, update you on the Engineering Hall Of Fame, publish the Flashback column, and proffer pleasant surprises.
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