John Keller, Editor in Chief
Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine has long been about matching readers’ design needs with technology solutions, and this objective is, and will remain, at the heart of our magazine’s set of core values.
The kinds of solutions our magazine highlights have come in many different guises over the years, and historically have spanned the range from mil-spec to COTS design, official design standards to de-facto industry standards, point-to-point integrated systems to fully networked architectures, platform-centric to network-centric architectures, customer testimonials to new-product announcements, and the list goes on.
In this plethora of news coverage, however, we admit that we have detected a small, but important gap: the ability to browse through company lines of product offerings rapidly by comparing detailed product specifications side-by-side with those of other vendors. That gap we intend to close now with our newest editorial department called Product Intelligence.
This month’s edition of Product Intelligence on page 26 highlights rugged handheld computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) that are suitable for military and aerospace use. Not all of these devices might always fit the bill for the most environmentally stressful military applications, but the feature should give readers a good idea of which offerings might be legitimate candidates for their applications, and which might not.
We intend the Military & Aerospace Electronics department on Product Intelligence to resemble a monthly buyers guide on specific and targeted product categories. The department will consist of a concise feature tracing the most influential technology trends and applications on the topic, along with a detailed table with company names and contact information, product offerings, and product specifications.
Like a buyers guide, this section hits the high points of product suppliers and their offerings, but unlike a buyers guide, the section is very specific and detailed when it comes to products and their specifications. In contrast to a buyer’s guide, moreover, the Product Intelligence section enables readers to drill down to specific product details and helps them determine which of the products in the section might be solutions to their design challenges.
In the following months the editors of Military & Aerospace Electronics will continue to expand on the theme of Product Intelligence with features and product specification tables on software design and development tools for military and aerospace applications in October, on radiation-hardened solid-state memory chips in November, and on high-speed switched-fabric backplane data buses in December.
Product Intelligence departments in 2006 will include detailed reports on test and measurement equipment, power electronics, board products, computer peripherals, design and development tools, displays, communications, sensors, and more.
It is our goal to provide our technology community with the most useful and up-to-date information available to help military and aerospace systems designers make the most sensible choices of components and subsystems.
If you have questions or comments on this new editorial department in Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, contact chief editor John Keller by e-mail at [email protected]
