A Season In Time

The last 5 years for this industry have been glorious, challenging, awe-inspiring, and death-defying. There have been many winners, just as many losers, and more paper-based millionaires than you can count. Thinking about how far we’ve come, I realize what a different place this is from when I helped start this magazine 5 years ago. Life was truly different back then, and things seemed to move in slow motion compared to life now measured in Internet time. Now, I’m immersed in this world and prospering through the good and the bad times that a volatile market like this has to offer.

As Communication Systems Design celebrates its 5-year anniversary on this planet, it offers a time for some much needed reflection as to where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. It’s easy to get caught up in the hurried life this technology boom has enabled, forgetting to look at the important pieces of the puzzle and getting some perspective. Gaining and providing a sense of perspective was exactly what I enjoyed most about writing this admittedly lengthy retrospective that leads the features this month.

I had no idea we could be right just about as often as we were wrong in our predictions. The communication market has become a place that’s not for the faint of heart or the easily deterred. It’s an arena for survivalist ruffians ready to take on the world. And a sense of humor doesn’t hurt either. Check out the retrospective, and remember where you were 5 years ago when the Internet was “just a fad.”

But every season has its end, and so must mine. As the industry has grown, so has the needs of the engineers in the field served by Communication Systems Design . And the magazine is growing right alongside the industry and the engineers. As both Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of our 50,000 subscribers, I’ve realized that to provide the necessary amount of coverage using the increasingly various media available, requires a full-time Editor-in-Chief as well as a strong editorial staff. I’m happy to announce that we’ve provided just that, with the hire of Robert Keenan as editor of this leading publication and its Web site, supplements, and newsletters.

As an editor of various industry magazines and Web sites, Rob has developed a strong background in wireless and digital communications. His desire to increase the number of editorial pages and to focus on emerging technology areas like optical communications, RF, and broadband access will certainly bring you many hours of good reading. His partners/editors in crime, John Poultney and Merlina Trevino, will also help bring you the latest and greatest design, technology, and news information on the comm market. They are a great group of editors and technologists who will most definitely prostrate themselves to your service.

The last first 5 years have gone by as fast as any season in time. I’m sure the next 5 will speed up even more, with all the craziness of this market. As I step aside from my job here at Communication Systems Design to become a dedicated Mom to my own “little start-up,” I wish all the readers, authors, industry analysts, vendors, and experts in the field all the best in the coming years. Goodbye and good luck!