What do engineers and designers want on the internet?

Sid Mikelbank 7/17/99

Infinite things to match our infinite interests.

Engineers are efficient. We don't want to waste our time and effort.

We want answers to things we don't know about. If it's something we already know, we don't go to the internet. We also wouldn't go to the internet if we already know how to get the answer through a person we know, or it's in books we already have.

We want quick answers.

We want all the reference books in the largest engineering library at our fingertips. We want every manufacturer's data on every product at our fingertips. We want to have expert advice from an expert, now.

If our problem has ever been solved before, or a similar problem solved before, we want the solution, presented perfectly for our need, with just the info we need, just the backup and reference we need, and not a lot of other stuff we don't need.

Well, I haven't found most of the above on the internet yet. But it's on its way. I see masses and masses of good stuff available, and I doubt any of us has any method to see even a fraction of all the good stuff going new onto the internet everyday.

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