With widespread access to broadband communications, companies will be able to hire across multiple locales, rather than in one central place. Telecommuting, a concept first explored in the 1960s, will let organizations employ engineers in far-flung locations. Working from home will be the norm in this century. Electronics gadgets, designed and developed by electronics engineers, will make this possible. In another sweeping change there is a renewed, grass-roots interest in research in primary engineering areas.
Research is what enables fundamental gains in electronics.
A savvy researcher in the early 1990s figured out a clever way to locate resources along the Internet highway to explode this technology and accelerate adoption. In the future, home appliances will offer features and capabilities unheard of today. Television screens are still clunky and unwieldy. Soon, LCDs or plasma monitors the size of a large mirror will replace the tube at an affordable price. This bright outlook should be viewed with caution, however.