In journalism it sometimes seems that, as Marshall McLuhan wrote in 1964, the "medium is the message." Indeed, the forms of information distribution—whether video, web site, mobile app, or, thank goodness, print—sometimes garner more attention than the quality of the content.
At Laser Focus World, we certainly know and practice the art of delivering information in any medium our audience desires, from tracking a Twitter account to holding a magazine (or iPad) in your hands. But we also know very well our audience of engineers, researchers, and engineering management—the very folks who develop the technologies and products that make many forms of distribution possible. And this rather skeptical audience quickly sees through all the bells and whistles if we don't deliver substantial technical content.
As we continually adapt to this new media world, we keep our focus on good writing, important developments in the many fields of photonics, and presenting content that is both interesting and useful to our audience. I think you will see these attributes in the articles in this issue: from senior technical editor John Wallace's look back at the 20 most interesting technology developments in 2012, to contributing editor Jeff Hecht's in-depth view of progress toward greater efficiency in photovoltaic cells. And from the heart of the digital "cloud," we have two senior engineers at Google who write about the optical technologies that are accelerating the ability of datacenter networks to scale up.
Let us know what you think about our message and your preferred medium—by e-mail or in person at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco, February 2–8. You can read our preview of the show online at http://bit.ly/WtQxwd. For even more content, please join us on February 4, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar. With live speakers such as keynote Valentin Gapontsev from IPG Photonics, you will no doubt learn some interesting and useful information.
Conard Holton | Editor at Large
Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.