A friend of mine shared this story with me and I thought it was worth passing along. During the space race back in the 1960's, NASA had to address the problem of how astronauts would write in the vacuum of space. At the cost of $1.5 million dollars they developed an "astronaut pen", which went on to enjoy success in the commercial market. Proving that ingenuity can solve almost any problem. The Soviets, faced with the same problem used pencils.
Its a funny story and worth pointing out to our community that applies considerable brain-power to solving problems. Be wary of the complex solution to a given problem, Nature loves simplicity. Always consider the possibility of a good, cheap and simple solution, right?
Apparently the rest of the story validates the pen development. Initially, NASA used pencils just like the Soviets did, but the leads sometimes broke and became a hazard floating in the zero-gravity environment of the capsule. Also, the lead and wood could burn rapidly in the pure oxygen atmosphere.
Paul Fisher realized NASA needed a safer writing instrument and so in 1965 he spent a million dollars of his own money (applause for the free market entrepeneur) developing an all metal pen with sealed pressurized ink cartridge. The ink has a flash point of 200 degrees c, satisfying the need for a writing tool that wouldn't burn in pure oxygen. Fisher sold 400 pens to NASA in 1967 for $2.95 before they went on to great commercial success. By 1968, the Soviets were using them as well.
So keep on innovating
Component Makers Hit Hardest in Q1
A preliminary look at the first quarter financial results for the telecom industry reveals poor but not surprising results, reflecting the impact of the recession. Service provider revenues are down versus the same quarter last year, but only a few percentage points, while capital spending and attendant equipment vendor revenues are down 15�25%. Component makers and contract manufacturers are also reporting revenue declines averaging 20�30% versus the year-ago quarter.
Among equipment vendors, revenues declined 15% on average, with Alcatel-Lucent down 6.9%, NSN down 12.1%, and Cisco down 21.5% (with exchange rate effects factored out for Alcatel-Lucent and NSN). Further down the supply chain, component revenues were down almost 20% among sampled companies, and contract manufacturing revenues were down nearly 28%, due to a �bullwhip effect�.
A couple of bright spots are also starting to appear. Wireless backhaul leader Ceragon reported a revenue decline of only 7%.
Among equipment vendors, revenues declined 15% on average, with Alcatel-Lucent down 6.9%, NSN down 12.1%, and Cisco down 21.5% (with exchange rate effects factored out for Alcatel-Lucent and NSN). Further down the supply chain, component revenues were down almost 20% among sampled companies, and contract manufacturing revenues were down nearly 28%, due to a �bullwhip effect�.
A couple of bright spots are also starting to appear. Wireless backhaul leader Ceragon reported a revenue decline of only 7%.
New Tools on the Blog!
You might have noticed that we have added some cool new tools to the blog. In the right column, we now have a link at the top to get all of our entries as audio files. You can listen to them as you do something else or download them to your mp3 player. There is also a feed on the page to subscribe to for updates.
Also in the right column is a Twitter Search feed. You can enter any term and it will provide real time updates for that keyword. Enter IMS2009 to follow everyone for Tweats about the upcoming IMS 2009 MTT-S Symposium. Pass the word around to use the hashtag #IMS2009 so everyone can monitor the action and participate. Just begin each Tweat with #IMS2009 and everyone can track that term.
Also in the right column is a Twitter Search feed. You can enter any term and it will provide real time updates for that keyword. Enter IMS2009 to follow everyone for Tweats about the upcoming IMS 2009 MTT-S Symposium. Pass the word around to use the hashtag #IMS2009 so everyone can monitor the action and participate. Just begin each Tweat with #IMS2009 and everyone can track that term.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)