For the first few decades of the embedded systems industry, one could predict innovation in the electronics industry by trying to figure out how to fit larger systems into our pockets through integration. For example, the computer moved from a large room, to a desk top, to our pocket. The fun of this approach was the next step: how to embed these same systems in our clothing or bodies so we don't even have to think about them. As we look back at the evolution of electronics, we can argue that it wasn't higher performance that brought computers to our pockets, it was reduced power dissipation. When we reduce power consumption by half, we reduced battery size by half as well. What happened when we reduced power consumption by orders of magnitude? Coupled with a billion transistors per $1, we created perpetual devices that we embed anywhere we can imagine. This exciting innovation is still the key to our future.

The one thing we didn't anticipate back in 2008 or ever, was how collectible TI's original Speak'N'Spell became. I'm still surprised that a vintage 1978 Speak'N'Spell recently went for $14 billion dollars at last year's worldwide Soth-E-bay's auction. Wow. It's a good thing we put an S'N'S in that TI time capsule. Now if only we could remember where we buried it (yes, eliminating memory loss is the next breakthrough in technology--I hope).

Gene Frantz is one of the world's foremost experts in digital signal processing. In 2002, he was named a TI Principal Fellow, joining an elite group of technology innovators at the top of TI's technical ladder. As DSP business development manager, Frantz is responsible for creating new businesses within TI utilizing DSP technology.