Avionics News September 2020 - 14

In this monthly column, Ric Peri of the AEA's Washington, D.C., office, informs members of the latest regulatory updates.

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P E R I
A EA V I C E P R ES I D E N T O F G OV E R N M E N T & I N D U ST RY A F FA I RS

The New Normal
T
his is not my favorite term: The New Normal.
As you read this month's View from Washington, it will become obvious why I don't like the
term, and particularly what the term implies. Let me start by
asking: What is normal?
Most successful businesses live by the mantra of
"continuous improvement." If this is the case and we can
agree with the mantra, and every day brings change, then
I suggest "normal" is, in fact, constant change: continuous
improvement.
Sure, we all are living in unusual times. Yes, the western
world is being introduced to masks and face shields. Many
of us are relying on door-to-door delivery of groceries and
consumable products. Many of the behaviors that we grew up
with are changing. From that perspective, I can get my mind
wrapped around the new normal. But being driven to change
is not new.
We have been living in a constant flux of change nearly
my entire life. My first commercial flight was at the
beginning of the jet age; something we take for granted today.
I first started watching TV on a black and white TV; we take
color displays for granted today. I listened to music on record
players, tape recorders, and low-power AM radios; today, I'm
streaming jazz music in the background into my office.
In a 2004 paper titled, Benefits from Apollo: Giant
Leaps in Technology, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration highlighted the dozen or so advancements
in technology from the materials in athletic footwear to the
materials in firefighter clothing; from the technology of
lifting heavy objects to the technology of solar panels; to
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avionics news

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2020

advances in medical monitoring equipment that were a direct
result of the 1960s technology needed for the space race.
In the mid-1970s, the personal computer was introduced.
The first ones were mail-order kits that sold for $400. Apple
introduced the Apple II in 1977. Remember the floppy
disk? First starting with the 8-inch disk; then 5.25-inch and
finally the 3.5-inch disk. I remember the 3.5-inch disk being
a huge improvement since it could hold 1.44 megabytes of
data compared with the 360 kilobytes of the 5.25-inch disk.
Today, Kingston builds a 2-terabyte USB storage device
(2,147,483,648 kilobytes).

As with every evolution of change,
tomorrow will be a hybrid of the best
of yesterday combined with what we
learn about 'today's' normal.
While the basic concept of wireless phones dates to the
early 20th century, the modern handheld mobile phone was
first introduced in 1973. At about every 10-year interval, the
mobile phone industry would introduce the next generation
of cellular capability to where the latest generation, 5G, is
being rolled out. With each new generation, the technological
advances of our mobile phones, tablets and laptop computers
grows exponentially. We live in a time of constant change.
These technology changes directly affect our
businesses, driving a daily "new normal." Each of
these technologies solve a problem. As we look at the

Avionics News September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News September 2020