The Marketing Minute: If Your Marketing Budget Gets Cut in Half, Then What?
Punching Out: How Are the Big Boys in Electronics Doing?
It’s Only Common Sense: Complexity Is the Enemy of Profit
April Issue of I-Connect007 Magazine: Beyond the Rulebook
April 14, 2026 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamEstimated reading time: 1 minute
What happens when the old rulebook no longer applies—and all that’s left is new ground to break? Today’s designers and fabricators are being asked to build what has no precedent, no proven path, and no tidy checklist. This is where design for invention begins.
In this month’s I-Connect007 Magazine, we asked PCB designers, fabricators, and suppliers what it really means to operate without a rulebook. Their perspectives vary, especially between seasoned designers and experienced fabricators, but a common thread emerges: progress depends on pushing boundaries and finding a way forward, even when the path isn’t clear. In many ways, this mindset has always been part of what we do, whether we’ve called it that or not.
Hear from experts including John Watson, Kelly Dack, Stephen V. Chavez, Kristin Moyer, Anaya Vardya, Ventec, Mike Carano, Vern Solberg, Matt Stevenson, and more. They’re tackling the challenges head on and making bold assumptions about the future of design and manufacturing.
Share on:
Subscribe
Stay ahead of the technologies shaping the future of electronics with our latest newsletter, Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest. Get expert insights on advanced packaging, materials, and system-level innovation, delivered straight to your inbox.
Subscribe now to stay informed, competitive, and connected.
Suggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
05/15/2026 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007When you work in the news business, even in trade media, you can never really get that far away from it. We never want to miss something important. Chances are, even the books we take on our “vacations” end up having to do with the business. For example, my colleague Michelle Te recommended “Creativity, Inc., by Ed Catmull, a business skills study wrapped up in stories about Pixar, which I brought with me on a trip through the stunning U.S. Mountain West. Now, I’m back, and here are my recommendations for the week.
What Heterogeneous Integration Means for EMS Providers
05/14/2026 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Dr. Ravi Mahajan, an Intel Fellow and Director of Intel’s Technology and Pathfinding group, delivered a keynote at the APEX EXPO 2026 technical conference on using heterogeneous integration (HI) as a strategy and on how advanced packaging technology serves as the technical apex for implementing that strategy. Mahajan’s previous papers and industry presentations on such topics as interconnect density, signal integrity, power delivery, thermal path, and assembly yield as system-level constraints confirm him as an expert on package optimization.
Elementary, Mr. Watson: The Design Matrix—Revealing the Hidden Truths of Reality
05/12/2026 | John Watson -- Column: Elementary, Mr. Watson“It seems you've been living two lives.” In one life, you're the respectable and responsible PCB design professional who follows the rules, works, pays taxes, meets deadlines, runs the checks, and even helps the landlady take out her garbage. In the other life, you’re the PCB designer who senses that something is wrong, searches for the deeper meaning behind their work, and can no longer fully accept the design world exactly as it has been presented. Welcome to the Design Matrix.
The Marketing Minute: If Your Marketing Budget Gets Cut in Half, Then What?
05/13/2026 | Brittany Martin -- Column: The Marketing MinuteHypothetically, let’s say your marketing budget gets cut in half tomorrow. (I’m stressed just thinking about it!) But here’s the real question: Would your actual marketing strategy change, or just the amount of money behind it? Because those are not the same thing. Markets go up and down. Budgets can tighten. If your entire marketing approach depends on the biggest, flashiest, most expensive options available, that’s not really a strategy. It’s just spending. A strong marketing strategy should remain consistent regardless of spending levels.
It’s Only Common Sense: Complexity Is the Enemy of Profit
05/11/2026 | Dan Beaulieu -- Column: It's Only Common SenseComplexity is expensive, but it doesn’t look that way at first. In fact, it often disguises itself as sophistication, flexibility, or customer responsiveness. But peel back the layers, and you’ll find bloated costs, diluted focus, exhausted teams, and shrinking margins. Common sense says that if something is hard to understand, execute, and explain, it is probably hard to make money doing it.