To get an effective snapshot of today’s electronics design, look no further than the nearest teenager. Amongst the attached ‘essential’ technology will be a fine example of the complex relationship between technology and consumer demand – a portable music player.
Of course, more sophisticated products are produced by engineering teams every day, but it’s the mix of influencing factors in this type of device that has a profound impact on mainstream electronic design.
The essential element here is why the user has selected this particular portable player. The answers will point to price, form and function.
Turning towards the manufacturer of our example music player, it’s clear the form and function properties engineered into the product define its competitive strength. What’s more, maintaining the market differentiation these properties confer is essential to the product’s ongoing success – in effect, this is the product’s defining IP.
The significance of this is that, whilst product form is relatively easy for other manufacturers to emulate, the functional elements are invariably held in the more secure software domain. Put simply, design IP contained in the physical domain – such as case hardware and pcb assemblies – cannot sustain product individuality in a competitive market. By contrast, the ‘soft’ elements of a design are easier to protect legally and more difficult to reverse engineer.
Beyond design security issues, moving a product’s design IP from the hardware to software domain opens the opportunity to create far more functionally sophisticated products. This software centric approach has, in turn, redefined the electronic product design landscape and the methods used to create those products.
