Is technology only #HyperTech?

The fast changing world in which we live influences our perspective: anything we touch is doomed to be soon replaced with the new version and forgotten due to the release of the new generation. Out of this demand creation and fast turnover, many are the rising issues and growing the awareness of what we really need is therefore very commonly debated.

I think this phenomenon affects even professional life because there is great marketing push even within B2B.

As a matter of fact, product marketing hardly consider what you already use as the right solution for you, so they keep pushing for new products. But is everybody looking at what they really need?

Indeed, simple tools like a scissor or a hammer, though they are not new, they are still good if you know how to employ them. It may sound nostalgic, but if you were a tailor or a carpenter, scissors and hammers would be the solution for many jobs.

On the other hand, talking about High Tech industry, the continuous buzz for something new and newer, is so strong that even operators may be confused and the decision for the right product could not be so straightforward.

I work in Factory Automation and I have been a specialist for sensors in industry for almost 10 years. Here, I discovered by experience that it is not a matter of novelties on your catalog, neither of the size of your product basket.

However what matters is how much, how well and how deep you know your field, its applications, its needs.

Nowadays the trend in Industry is IoT and 4.0, though what it really means is still uncertain. And talking about “just” sensors, without smart and connectivity attributes may be out of date. Whereas On/Off sensors could bring a lot of added value to those who need them and not hypertech gadget whose usefulness might be debatable.

As a specialist I spend most of my time talking with customers and partners, and mostly my conclusion is it is not a matter of products. It is a matter of how we use them.

In the following posts, limiting the discussion to sensors in industry, I would like to give concrete examples. Surely I would not refer to data-sheet, nor technical specifications, but rather an outlook at common problems with suggestions taken from my practice.

In conclusion, to tackle everyday challenges (at work as well as in life) we should be aware about what we already have and how to use it properly (e.g. a classic photosensor), rather than spending time following trends that we may not actually need.

I believe that sharing this experience of practical problem solving may help learning how to better use our tools, even traditional ones.