In discussing his March Special Report on Custom Switching, senior technical editor Tom Lecklider proposes that you try your hand at this Switching 101 final-exam question before reading his article:
“With all the test-system switching solutions available today, are there any applications that cannot be addressed by commercially available off-the-shelf switching systems or switch matrices? Discuss. 1 hour.”
The question certainly seems straightforward. It's true that there are lots of commercially available switching solutions, so you might simply be tempted to write “no” on the first page of your answer booklet, sign it, and then imagine yourself waiting in a classroom until your fellow students finish—in a hour. (What could they be writing about that’s taking so long?)
Maybe the question implies more than first appears, thereby giving your imaginary peers something to write about. Don't spend an hour, but do give it some thought and add your comments below. Then, read Tom's report on the topic.