When we started Analog Avenue in October 1997 it was in the hope that we would create a natural gathering point for analog engineers by being a major source of information, a major resource; we think that is working and there is a community growing of loyal -- and sometimes critical -- readers.

The amount of material on these pages is growing fast. With four new columns every month, plus a monthly Editorial and new product critiques every week there is continual change. And the way that material is rotated ensures that if you can only surf on a Monday, say, you should never see the same front page twice in a month.

In general, Analog Avenue has received the approval of the manufacturers and although I am personally fixated by the separation of 'Church' and 'State' there has to be the practical realization from all parties that this venture cannot exist without the vendors' support. They must see their product areas covered because then they know that the readers who are visiting are qualified for those areas. If you take the Editor's Choice Products and the 'Product of the Week,' for example, there is no forum in the print press -- or on line as far as I am aware -- where a manufacturer's press release is going to be published verbatim (typos, bad units, warts, silly quotes and all) in the manner that we do. They don't choose which manufacturer and which product goes into cyberprint, I do, but they have the most exposure they could possibly have if they do it right. At the same time my choice and my comments about the product are also unequaled in the industry because they are chosen from the simple belief by me that they will make money for the manufacturer, because you, and your colleagues will design the parts in. It has been a convention in the trade press never to be political by reviewing parts; that, to my mind, is nonsense, and just as our columnists do I put my money where my mouth is.

The material, too, is at different levels for different parts of the audience. There is a vast gap between National Semiconductors writing about transmission line characteristics, and Barrie Gilbert reminding us why real analog engineering and academic textbooks are so often in disagreement. The same is true between the opinion column from Texas Instruments and the practical, sound advice from Bonnie Baker (the result of too many years designing things on the phone as an applications engineer!) There is no method to weigh, or assign, values to these columns, to say one is 'better' than another: They are accepted by the reader as either of interest or not in any particular month and if they are in your area of expertise or need you will leave with something of value: Guaranteed.

But this Editorial is not intended as a plug for Analog Avenue. You are already here so it follows that this would be preaching to the converted, and although it's always a good feeling to get that rush of approbation from ones peers it doesn't get us ahead. What does get us moving forward is to continue the momentum.

Future Plans

Various things are on the horizon, mostly things that I can't write about yet, but there are two major holes in our coverage which we need to deal with. You should be aware that on the EDTN site there are available application notes, press releases, links to data sheets for over 100 major manufacturers. (One of easiest ways to find information is with the search engine.) But one of the things we don't have is a real area of circuit suggestions. We will be starting, as soon as I have enough suggestions, an area which we are going to call "Our Analog Designs."

The circuits will be accompanied by a short description of operation and any suitable warnings about specifications, tolerances, etc. These can be e-mailed to me at any time (with the circuit in a readable -- but compressed, please, -- gif for PC) and I will acknowledge receipt. Before publication you will be asked to confirm that the circuit is yours, that it works, and that it has not been published elsewhere.

Unlike a print magazine we are limited only by memory capability so there is no set number of "Our Analog Designs" that will be accepted. additionally a hierarchy will be created so that the circuits can be archived and successfully found later by other readers. Regularly there will be a drawing for a real prize. The first will be for a handheld Tektronix oscilloscope for which we will draw 90 days after we go on line with the first circuits. We are not restricting this to any category of engineer. You could be designing hearing aids or power supplies; you may even be with the semiconductor vendor. We are only concerned that we get ideas that will help our analog community.

The other major hole is that we don't/haven't yet reviewed books and we have been told by focus groups that we need to, and they have told us the format they would like to see. That will start extremely quickly.

We want Analog Avenue to be your community on the Web; the place you want/have to go or else you will be left out. We want you to talk about what you have seen and read while you are standing around the drinking fountain. As I tell my colleagues: "When I am on the Internet I am working it, I am not doing work on it."

By: Paul McGoldrick
Sr. Technology Editor, EDTN

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