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11.05.98

Welcome to the re-engineered EDN

Michael Markowitz, Editorial Director

You've changed. Your jobs have changed. And the way you work has changed. As we watched these changes take place, reported the impact these changes were having, and maybe even contributed to some of the changes through this Web site, we recognized that our printed publication needs to adapt to these changes, too.

In the last few years, we've made some minor adjustments, but now it's time to do something more dramatic. Through extensive research and testing, we've re-engineered EDN magazine to resynchronize with today's engineer.

Since EDN's last redesign in 1992, the World Wide Web has become an enormous resource to you. Our research tells us that you spend lots of time searching and researching on the 'Net. So, we've taken many features from the Internet and adapted them to the print world. The 'Net lets you jump around using hyperlinks. We've adapted several "sign-posting" techniques to provide a measure of that utility in a print magazine. We've added a third page to the Table of Contents, where we sort the magazine's entire editorial content by technology. We've also added mini tables of contents to the Design Ideas, product sections, and all of the feature articles written by EDN's engineers. And, recognizing that many of you spend short bursts of time with the magazine, we've added smaller bits and bytes to the Leading Edge section to quickly give you the meat of the story. In EDN's re-engineered Leading Edge, you'll get quick looks at important information in bite-sized, coherent chunks.

Although the changes we made were influenced by the success of the Web, we remain sensitive to the differences between dead trees and pixels. You use the magazine and the Web in different ways, and our efforts in both media will continue to reflect those differences. We're still the only publication that recognizes its competitors with hypertext links directly to their sites. We'll continue to move beyond static text as we've done with our "Mystery Circuit," our Signal-Integrity Center, and the µP and DSP databases. You can count on EDN, as the publication that has been rewarding design innovation for eight years, to continue to innovate on the Web; you'll shortly see more evidence of this innovation.

The new look of the print-version of EDN is meant to be a reflection of you. We asked the designer for a clean, informal look that is friendly and inviting as well as easy to use and read. His first design was what Executive Editor Gary Legg referred to as a beautifully tailored, high-quality blue pinstriped suit. We wanted a design that had more of the Dockers-and-T-shirt look that we thought you'd be more comfortable with.

Our re-engineering also encompasses how we help you supplement the information we provide in the magazine and over the Web. We are introducing a new service called "InfoAccess" to give you unlimited access to product info. InfoAccess lets you request information from manufacturers using a reader-service number or key word. You can choose whether to receive the info by snail mail, fax, or e-mail. Or link to a vendor's Web site.

Rest assured, despite the re-engineered EDN, our fundamental mission—to provide detailed, practical information about products, applications, technologies, and techniques—has not changed. Our objective remains the same: to give you the knowledge and tools that make your job easier. EDN's engineers—all with degrees and design experience—will continue to provide detailed analyses and evaluations through articles and Hands-On Projects.

EDN is your magazine. We've based these changes on your comments and feedback. Let us know what you think. Contact me at m.markowitz@cahners.com or call me directly at 1-617-558-4214. I look forward to hearing from you.

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