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They finally figured it out
July 8, 2008

I just received a press release from one of those companies that analyzes industries. This one is about test and measurement, oscilloscopes in particular. Here's how the release starts. I quote:

"July 8, 2008 – Increased adoption of high-speed serial standards and technological advancements in communications and computer end-user segments contribute to the continued growth of the world oscilloscopes market. Furthermore, the expansion of the Internet, broadband and wireless communication devices results in the need for faster and more complex electronic signals. Testing these signals requires oscilloscopes with high sample rates and long memories to perform the required analysis."

Really? Do you think that high-speed serial buses have anything to do with oscilloscope technology and thus demand? The oscilloscope makers, this editor, and you as well, have known that for years. Do the words jitter, bathtub curves, bit-error rate, unit interval, or sample rates over 10 Gsa/sec mean anything to you? If they do, then you know very well that serial buses have been pushing the state of the art in oscilloscopes since the end of the last millenium. But, now that industry analysts have figured that out, it must be true.

I love industry analysts. They have such a keen sense of the obvious.

Posted by Martin Rowe on July 8, 2008 | Comments (0)