The Column - September 2007 - (Page 16)

Zosimus The Column www.thecolumn.eu.com September 2007 Has Chromatography Been Helped by the Internet? Zosimus wonders if the world wide web has made any real impact on separation science. The other week I couldn’t receive or make any telephone calls after my Voice-over Internet Protocol (VOIP) system crashed. It took the service provider more than two days to bring the system back on-line. At first I was annoyed about not having a telephone but then, as time went on, I began to enjoy the peace and quiet from not having to answer it. The experience got me thinking about what it would be like if we no longer had the Internet. I then wondered, could we, as chromatographers exist in today’s world without the Internet? It wasn’t long before I came to the conclusion that yes of course we could exist without the Internet and maybe some things would be even better without it. Bet you never thought I could be a Luddite! I think the Internet has improved things for me but has improved nothing for chromatography. Through e-mail I can now send a message to anyone with an e-mail address no matter where they are. I will also probably receive a reply within minutes because with e-mail, locations simply do not matter anymore. And in today’s age we seem to e-mail when in the past we would have called one another on the telephone. It’s funny but I can get e-mails inviting me to coffee — don’t we like talking to one another anymore? So for me the Internet has become a very useful information tool and one I don’t think I could be without. But what has the Internet done for chromatography? Well, I can now order consumables and I suppose instruments on the Internet and receive the items the next day. But I could do that more than 10 years ago by placing an order using the telephone. I still use the telephone for ordering now, as I believe it provides a better service. I can talk to a person who hopefully knows about chromatography and can also help me around a problem if there is no stock, even advise me on other items that may do a better job. I have found no dumb web-ordering page that can do that yet! Author: Zosimus E-mail: zosimus@thecolumn.eu.com If I needed an application note 10 years ago I would ring up a company, talk to the technical support person and then the application would either be posted or faxed to me. Again, I had a personal service from an applications specialist who could advise on the problems and benefits of different methods. Of course I couldn’t get access to this information 24 hours per day, normally only between 8 am and 6 pm, which are the hours I would be working in my laboratory anyway. If we look at any other usage of the Internet I hope you will understand my argument that the Internet, used as it is today, has done nothing to help me as a chromatographer. However, I’m not really a Luddite. For the Internet to really help chromatographers, it just needs a little thought and maybe the application of money from the manufacturers. Then we could have a really useful system. Take my application note as an example. Even though in today’s age I can receive an application note virtually instantaneously, I still have to set up the instrument manually. Why haven’t the instrument manufacturers agreed a common protocol that will allow a method to be downloaded directly into my instrument? Now that would be useful. On my cable modem the service provider has direct access to run, test and verify routines on the box, upgrade firmware and run other diagnostics. Why haven’t the HPLC/GC manufacturers installed such network protocols on my instruments? Now that would be a good use of the Internet. The Internet has provided me with a great information tool, but so far has done nothing to enhance my chromatography. If anyone from the major instrument manufacturers is reading this please think about investing in new thinking and new ways to use this communication revolution that will help chromatographers. 16 http://www.thecolumn.eu.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Column - September 2007

Contents
News
High-Speed Amino Acid Analysis of Beverages
Has Chromatography Been Helped by the Internet?
Market Trends and Analysis
Detecting Solvent Residues in Packaging Foils Using Headspace GC
ExTech 2007 Report
My Name Is Earl

The Column - September 2007