To kick off our anniversary year, we have completely restructured our annual Technology Forecast issue. The new format emphasizes scope of coverage to inform you of as many important technology trends and impending events as possible. We intentionally crafted this Top 10 Forecast to be a "keeper" reference for all of 2002.
We have dubbed it our Top 10 Forecast because it covers 10 of the most important technology sectors in the electronics OEM marketplace today. We picked the technologies we believe are the most pertinent and essential to your work. Some industry sectors are so large and so active, like digital ICs, we divided them into smaller, more manageable areas representing the key segments within that sector. So, in a very real sense, our Top 10 Forecast gives you a bird's-eye view of the entire industry.
For each of these technology sectors and the segments that make them up, the editors not only alert you to the most significant trends for the year ahead but also predict the 10 most noteworthy events you should watch for throughout 2002 and beyond. The coverage for each sector opens with an short, but precise, assessment to advise you of those important trends, and the Top 10 listing for each technology sector/segment forecasts the specifics of the top 10 developments in the offing.
In homage to our 50th anniversary, all the technology segments include special historical perspectives through commentary and timelines that we think you will enjoy reading just for the sheer fun of it. These timelines present the milestone events you will be able to vote on to determine which are the 50 all-time most important ones for publication in our October commemorative Special Issue. What's more, we welcome your suggestions for milestones we may have overlooked. Use our Web site (www.elecdesign.com) to vote on the milestones published here and advise us of the ones you think we missed.