Electronics now and tomorrow

In a short series of articles, starting this month. we will endeavour to present a broad overview of the direction electronics may be going during the last few years of this century. When reading the articles, it should be borne in mind that many 'promising developments' have failed to make it over the past ten years or 50. You only have to think: of the videophone (or picturephoneJ, the digital audio tape (DAT) system, the digital compact cassette (Dee), the Series 2000 video recorder, the Betamax video recorder, and the mini disc system. On the other hand, the thermionic valve (or electron tube) and radio are making a comeback, while the compact disc (CD) has been a great success, althollgh its poplilarity is also waning now.