Today's Oregonian editorialized: "Tek's Shanghai Surprise... The storied company will move production work to China in a disappointing blow to Oregon's economy and pride."

That made me think backward through my career.

Tektronix brought me to the Pacific Northwest in 1980. Years earlier I had a list of the companies that I would most like to work for some day. Tek was at the top of my list, and the reality exceeded the dream, rewarding me with several of the best years of my professional life, before the once-great company started to crumble.

I had experienced a similar scenario during almost 25 years working for Sylvania Electric Products - my first real job out of college - first watching it merge with General Telephone to form GTE, and later deciding that the pending acquisition by Philips was a good time to make that move to Oregon.

During a coop education at Northeastern University, I had worked for four half-years at General Radio Company, then the premier electronic test equipment company. It was said that GR's new competitor, now known as HP, could have the business west of the Rockies, and GR would keep the rest. GR, too, is long gone, vanishing into a new world of semiconductor manufacturing.

All that's left are the brands: Tektronix, Sylvania, GR(GenRad).

In one lifetime this seems like a story of multiple disasters. But maybe growth in population and technology leave no other options for the old-style company than to "burn out." The next century may not favor big companies organized for "efficiency of scale." Instead, a better model may be loose affiliations of many smaller firms that can act together or individually to meet current conditions, without incurring long term commitments.

The challenge for today's kid is to guess what tools and experience are the best qualifications for staying on top even as the ride gets bumpy.

CNN: What are You?

Ok, I admit that my politics are more Keith and Rachel than O'Reilly and Beck. But at least they represent a consistent bias. If I want one-sided coverage of the news I know where to go.

PBS and CSPAN provide lots of useful resources but they lack focused coverage of policy & opinion when it comes to current political issues.

Where is CNN? This network has done serious reporting on many subjects, but it seems to be left at the starting gate on current issues.

Why must CNN support Lou Dobbs' rants and superficial discussions among the same experts night after night.

Dan Schorr recently said that his concern about the decline of newspapers is the loss of editing. So why couldn't CNN be a viable TV "newspaper?"

Why can't CNN give us more access to the wisdom of thoughtful, knowledgeable people like David Gergen and David Brooks and give them enough time to fully develop subjects of current interest. Why not add some serious satire to the mix, rather than leaving it to the Comedy Channel? And let's eliminate plugs for new books as a criteria for being on these shows.

Perhaps they could have a daily "top ten list" of topics that the public is (or should be) concerned about. They could bring in expert, middle-of-the-road, moderators for each topic, updating at regular intervals and interrupting with "breaking news" when appropriate. Perhaps they wouldn't be afraid of talking about Limbaugh's inappropriate comments or references to the "Brown shirts" or the roles of various special interest groups in political debates.

GE vs Apple

Am I the only one who enjoys watching the capitalization horse race between GE and AAPL?

It's back to being pretty close today, despite the recent big run up in Apple...

Apple Tablet?

Speculation about a possible table-style computer from Apple consistently fails to recognize the technology that has been the main driver for all of the current generation's electronic toys: DISPLAYS!

Look at what's "in the bushes:" micro-projectors - small enough to fit in a cell phone, thin-flexible OLEDs, auto-stereoscopic panels for 3D viewing without glasses, transparent "see-through" displays, wearable displays... And that consider the potential for very low power screens using technology that is just beginning to appear in electronic book readers.

Prof Gates

If the professor and "leading black intellectual" is as smart as his credentials he would have realized that the cops were trying to do their jobs to protect life & property. They could have helped him with his door problem and probably would have if he had given them a chance.

It annoys me that he would play the victim role because of his race. He's just another citizen, Time to move on.

Do we need another space program?

This is a no-brainer for me: of course we need to continue a program of space exploration. But we also need to make a stronger case to differentiate "research" from "development."

We need to have a constant space research program that will help define the feasibility of specific space-related proposals.

These will emerge over time, as we try to manage issues with over-population, disposal of nuclear waste, and perhaps other projects that could not or should not be carried out on earth.

We need to remember the contributions made by project Apollo to manufacturing and material science, as well as being a token of victory in the "space race."

And we shouldn't forget that we will not remain a major world power if we are skunked by other countries' space programs.

AARP & junk phone calls

I pay dues to AARP. That gives them the right to count my support in matters where AARP takes a position on behalf of its members. If I don't like their position I will complain to them or drop my membership.

BUT. I do not expect to be asked by AARP to make an individual "call to my congresspeople" to support the same causes that AARP is supporting. They already have my vote. I don't need to be counted twice and I definitely don't need AARP's messages on my answering machine.