Return to Articles
 

Surveying the Future

by Jerry W. Saveriano

Part 1


The following is my original article of "Surveying the Future" an edited version was published by POB Magazine in three parts in the Jan., Feb. and March 1997 issues.

First Page of POB artcile

The POB version was edited to reduce the length of the article and toned down to offend fewer people. I thank POB for letting me publish this "Directors Cut" of the article on my Web site. Like most "Director Cuts" this version is longer, and I hope it is more fun, controversial and energetic in it's original form.

There are more mistakes and more opinions here - shoot me an email if you find errors or disagree with my findings.

Introduction

The future is not likely to be as great as some of us make it out to be. Remember the "paperless office" or the "unmanned factory," or I can remember when I was in college doing a paper on the social problems caused by excessive amounts of leisure time caused by shorter work weeks, thanks to automation. It's like some people's rosy view of the past is effected by nostalgia. I'm not sure what the future version of nostalgia is called, euthanasia? But, I believe I suffer from it.

Call me a dreamer, I guess. I enjoy solving today's problems with tomorrow's solutions. I've made a career of foreseeing and defining advanced technology and predicting how it's going to change the nature of work. I have specialized in computer and robotic automation since the 1970's. As a consultant I've been hired by businesses and educational institutions to advise and lecture on the changes to manufacturing, exploration, warfare and surveying likely to occur as a result of advancing automation.

And since I've been doing this for over twenty years I've come to learn that not all the things I and my fellow forecasters predict always come out as we think. So, with that as a disclaimer, let me give you an idea of how I think technology is likely to change surveying and other field professions over the next 5 or 10 years. Now, I'm not just going to make this stuff up. Most of the ideas and projections are based on technology that is now relatively accepted as important. Such things as GPS and field computers are not science fiction they are "tools of the trade." The history of technology has many reliable lessons of how other crafts, vocations and professions have been effected by automation. Some of these scenarios are based on my experiences in factory automation and what happened to small job shops which perform machining operations for larger manufacturing companies. Their relationship is similar to small surveying companies relationship to civil engineering/architectural firms.

For the past few years I have been investigating the ways that advanced technology is likely to change field automation. I've worked with surveyors in the field. I've attended, worked and lectured at the latest technology conferences and shows. I've conferred with industry leaders and debated with dealers and magpied with magazine editors about the future of surveying and mapping. I have developed a view of the future that may help you gain a better understanding of how your world is likely to be effected by continuing rapid advances in the application of technology in surveying and mapping.


The technological imperative

Technology seems to have a life force of its own. We the "tool makers" have changed little from the days we lived in caves and made crude weapons and tools from the sticks, stones and bones which were strewn in our primitive front yards. Our tools however, have changed a great deal. The flint has become a laser, the arrowhead has become the stealth fighter, the hollowed-out log beat with sticks has become the world wide web. This dizzying increase in power, precision and popularity of technology seems almost without limit. Like the Arms Race the race in productivity tools is pushing and challenging us each day to keep-up and not fall behind. "Is this robotic total station fast enough? Can I wait six months to buy that RTK/GPS system. Am I jeopardizing my company by not investing soon enough in advanced technology? Do we have a Technology Gap?"

Isaac Asimov, the prolific writer who gave us the term "robotics", defined the Frankenstein Syndrome as the expectation of people that our creations and inventions will be our undoing. From the malevolent chaos let loose from Pandora's box, to the technology busting Ludites, to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" we have fought, resisted and struggled with technology and its effects. Certainly technology is a two-edged sword: it can be used as a competitive weapon against our opponents and it can also overwhelm our organization and become a technologic anchor which drags our ship down to a gleeful Davy "Murphy" Jones who adds it to his locker's techno junk pile.

Surveyors and other field professionals are split on the use of advanced technology. A few aggressively employ high tech tools, many bury their heads in the sand and hope they will be able to get by without having to buy and learn another new damnable device, most wait and see if their colleagues and competitors make effective use and money with new tools before they invest. Many surveyors are fearful and reluctant to learn about new technology. They view it with distrust and suspicion. Even though technology - which can be defined as the combination of tools and techniques - has always been a critical element in the surveying profession.

The tools and instruments a surveyor uses have changed more in the last 25 years that they did in the previous 2,500 years. With the advent of electronics, computers, communications and advanced optics the modern surveyor can do more work, faster and more accurately, with fewer people than ever before. There will be no turning back. Once the genie is out of the bottle he seldom returns. The important question is how will advancing technology effect your business and can these changes be put to your advantage.


Who can best exploit new technology?

Tradition and authority go hand in hand. The people who are often most threatened by new technology are the "old guard." Those who have worked their way up over the years. Learning their jobs the old fashioned way - by doing it. Progressing up the ladder of success a rung at a time, based on what and who they knew. It's the new kids in town who have the most to gain by exploiting new technology to leap frog over the old guard. Technology has no respect for tradition. It does not inherently admire the aged nor the wisdom of the ancients. Like all tools technology must be used appropriately in order to achieve positive results. Technology is the lever which can be used by the young and aggressive to displace the old and entrenched. Upstarts have the advantage! The technologically adept will be able to progress more quickly within medium and larger firms and as a small or sole proprietor surveying company they will able to attract more jobs and earn more profits through the intelligent application of advanced technology.

This is not to say that tools make the craftsman. A new robotic total station or an expensive RTK/GPS system will only get you into trouble quicker if you don't know your craft. These assumptions are based on comparable talents and skills. Just like a nice new set of power tools cannot assure that you will build a quality house. But, assuming you and your neighbor are about equally skilled, you should be able to enjoying a glass of wine in front of a cozy fire in your new home, ahead of your neighbor, thanks to the advantage your power tools gave you over your hand-tooled competitor. What is truly needed is a healthy balance of tools, techniques and talent. And since we must work in teams in collaboration with other people and groups we must be able to manage projects and change in cooperation with others.

The introduction of new technology can provide advantages to people, companies and firms which are agile and customer or client oriented. Larger companies and agencies must struggle reengineering their traditional, and thus far successful hierarchical structures which are reluctant to change and adopt new technologies and methods. It's harder to change things which work , "If it ain't broke don't fix it." mentality. Small, focused, aggressive companies can adopt new tools and apply them in innovative ways to satisfy client needs. Like the human's mammal predecessors surviving and then thriving in a world dominated by dinosaurs, their facile minds and versatile hands solving problems close to the ground, living by their wits, day to day, in the precarious underfoot dust and danger of their dimwitted behemoth competitors.

Power to the People

One of the great ironies of technology is the reverse "1984" effect. Instead of a few giant electronic brains providing the huge government/industry complex Big Brother like control over our lives, (although this is always a concern,) small micro computers on our desks, on our laps and in our hands have provided The People, with an enormous amount of technological power. Technology has proven to be a great tool of democratization. Think of the compelling image of the brave and foolish twin-bagged shopper in Tiananmen Square blocking the advance of the Chinese Army's tank. That image and many other images and descriptions of peoples' heroism was broadcast on TV around the world and narrowcast by fax and Internet - "Knowledge is Power' and "The Truth Shall set You Free." "Small is Beautiful." "Power to the People!"

In a less dramatic, but in many ways just as heroic a struggle is taking place in the US and around the globe as small businesses and entrepreneurs take on the Goliaths of the world. If you own or run a small surveying or mapping firm you have, pound for pound, a technological advantage over your larger competitors. Your challenge is to focus on providing your clients with high quality, cost effective services. You must know which tools to buy, when to buy them, how to best apply them, and how to recruit and keep talented people.

To be sure, large and medium sized companies and agencies are not just sitting there ready to roll-over and let you take away their tasty business bones. They too are trying to be more competitive and focused on customer's needs. They also feel the threat of global competition and privatization. They too have the basic instinct for survival. Even though they are big, they are frightened and their low octane adrenaline is slowly pumping through their out-of-condition bodies. (The smell of titanic spirit.) But they have greater resources and can attract good people. They send their managers and supervisors to workshops and seminars to learn to act like a small responsive company. They trouble is, it is an act! They can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk? There is nothing more motivating and focussing than being so close to the road that you feel each bump and stone, you breathe the dirt and dust of reality. You can smell the earth, the past, the future. (Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.)

That is the real world. That is the truth. When you are big and become isolated and protected from the real world truth, your responses are more sluggish, your feel for client problems are less deft. It's like trying to assemble watches with mittens on. The exception which proves the rule, of course, is a company like Microsoft. Although mammoth and rich beyond greed, Microsoft has the body of the dinosaur but the mind and instinct of a frightened road runner …MEEP ….MEEP! It still is a jungle out there folks. And we need the best tools, techniques and teammates to survive and win.

It's not taught in schools

You'd think the kids coming out of school would have an advantage using advanced technology. It is true that most students in college today get a lot more hands-on computer time and are likely to be more comfortable with CAD systems, the Internet and other computer driven tools. However most schools are hard pressed to keep up with advancing technologies. New tools are expensive and teachers and professors have difficulty in keeping pace with the rapidly evolving technology. What today's practicing professionals need to know about technology is not taught in the schools.

You are responsible for seeking out critical information for your firm's success. Your best source of information on the latest advances in technology are trade magazines, shows and conferences, your local dealer's workshops and showroom, and hands-on sales demos and loaners. The schools for the most part are either too theoretical or too far behind the curve to be high tech applications oriented. Your regional chapter of the Land Surveyor Association should be a good source of real world information and experience. If it isn't, take an active role and make it so. You should also develop a network of colleagues and contacts who you can trust for advice and support.

You must continue with education. You should always have something to read or study. You have no time to lose. Surveyors asleep in a truck (what has four wheels and sleeps six) is not a joke, it is a tragedy. If it's raining, and you or your crew, goof-off, go to the mall, waste the day - it is professional negligence! Surveyors may wind-up on the endangered professions list. Typesetters had a long honored tradition and craft. But, they're just about gone. It happens! Please don't be smug or take comfort in laws and regulations which currently assure surveyors some protection in boundary surveys. This is a small and diminishing market segment and remember, "He who is written in can be written out."

Take pride and joy in your profession and, like you tell your kids about the environment, leave it a little better off than you found it. Think of those who've passed and, the hardship and danger they overcame in the exploration and mapping of this great untamed country. And think of those who will follow and the technology rich and stressful world in which they must live and work. Every day you must engage yourself in your work, your craft, your tools. Things are not going to slow down. They are in fact speeding up. As we will cover in following sections, 1997 promises to see dramatic increases in field productivity technology.

New technology presents an ever increasing rate of progression. We sometimes feel trapped, robot-like, servants to the machine or system, struggling to keep up, like the conveyor belt workers portrayed by Chaplin in "Modern Times" or Lucy in the "Chocolate Factory" episode. And, there are costs and losses for every advance in technology. However, in the span of about a hundred years, the journey the pioneers made along the Oregon Trail went from a six month perilous adventure to a three day joy ride - top down, radio on, at 65 glorious MPHs on the great American highways. And who amongst us would give up the power to surf 57 mindless channels with our wireless remotes - talk about your Manifest Destiny! From hearty pioneers to fatty couch potatoes - oh thank you Prometheus, god of foresight, the great Titan who gave Man fire and tools to elevate Man above the animals of earth. Click…Click…

Reasons for Change

Life is change. Progress is successful change. The world is not only smaller it is faster. It took weeks before many Americans knew that President Lincoln was assassinated, it took minutes for the world to learn that Madonna had her baby. We are one world and consequently now must compete with the guy down the street and the gal across the sea. We are wired, linked and connected. In the office and increasingly at home, and now the final frontier, the field.

We once were protected by our prowess in the wilderness. We are now threatened by GIS geeks with purse sized GPS systems who are delighted with football field sized accuracy. What in the name of Lewis and Clark are we to do? Compete or die. The once endangered American manufacturing industries have responded to life threatening challenges from Japan and Germany. Those companies which survived have flourished. Chrysler now entices us with the Viper and Prowler, and Harley still excites us with its throaty roar and neck lashing power.

The large communication and computing companies are continually restructuring, reengineering, down and right sizing. We are even told the federal government is re-inventing itself - sounds a bit like doing your own brain surgery. DOTs and other agencies are seeking to privatize to be more productive and cost effective by outsourcing projects to private companies.

There will be an increasing demand for small, sharp, surveying firms to do work that was once only the dominion of only the big firms and agencies. Small agile firms also have the power of passion. Owners and entrepreneurs and their motivated workers can out produce their larger competitors through team work, technology and a passion for personal involvement and professional excellence. A large company is like a sledge hammer - powerful but blunt. A small company is more like an ice pick - sharp but persuasive

The manufacturing industries and communication businesses have been put through tortuous changes caused by advancing technology, the end of the cold war and the global economy, over the last couple of decades. And it's now our turn in the bucket. Every change presents us with opportunity and risk. Flight or fight, which shall it be? Where can you hide? Jump in and enjoy the trip! Accept the challenge, be a Man or a Woman. Be all that you can be. Better to have lived and tried rather than to lurk in the underbrush hiding with the other meek creatures - meek… meek, click…click. "Which shall it be?" asks H.G. Wells at the end of "Things to Come" How about you, Bucky? Which shall it be?

End Part 1
Surveying the Future, Part 1 Return to Articles
 

Surveying the Future

by Jerry W. Saveriano

Part 1


The following is my original article of "Surveying the Future" an edited version was published by POB Magazine in three parts in the Jan., Feb. and March 1997 issues.

First Page of POB artcile

The POB version was edited to reduce the length of the article and toned down to offend fewer people. I thank POB for letting me publish this "Directors Cut" of the article on my Web site. Like most "Director Cuts" this version is longer, and I hope it is more fun, controversial and energetic in it's original form.

There are more mistakes and more opinions here - shoot me an email if you find errors or disagree with my findings.

Introduction

The future is not likely to be as great as some of us make it out to be. Remember the "paperless office" or the "unmanned factory," or I can remember when I was in college doing a paper on the social problems caused by excessive amounts of leisure time caused by shorter work weeks, thanks to automation. It's like some people's rosy view of the past is effected by nostalgia. I'm not sure what the future version of nostalgia is called, euthanasia? But, I believe I suffer from it.

Call me a dreamer, I guess. I enjoy solving today's problems with tomorrow's solutions. I've made a career of foreseeing and defining advanced technology and predicting how it's going to change the nature of work. I have specialized in computer and robotic automation since the 1970's. As a consultant I've been hired by businesses and educational institutions to advise and lecture on the changes to manufacturing, exploration, warfare and surveying likely to occur as a result of advancing automation.

And since I've been doing this for over twenty years I've come to learn that not all the things I and my fellow forecasters predict always come out as we think. So, with that as a disclaimer, let me give you an idea of how I think technology is likely to change surveying and other field professions over the next 5 or 10 years. Now, I'm not just going to make this stuff up. Most of the ideas and projections are based on technology that is now relatively accepted as important. Such things as GPS and field computers are not science fiction they are "tools of the trade." The history of technology has many reliable lessons of how other crafts, vocations and professions have been effected by automation. Some of these scenarios are based on my experiences in factory automation and what happened to small job shops which perform machining operations for larger manufacturing companies. Their relationship is similar to small surveying companies relationship to civil engineering/architectural firms.

For the past few years I have been investigating the ways that advanced technology is likely to change field automation. I've worked with surveyors in the field. I've attended, worked and lectured at the latest technology conferences and shows. I've conferred with industry leaders and debated with dealers and magpied with magazine editors about the future of surveying and mapping. I have developed a view of the future that may help you gain a better understanding of how your world is likely to be effected by continuing rapid advances in the application of technology in surveying and mapping.


The technological imperative

Technology seems to have a life force of its own. We the "tool makers" have changed little from the days we lived in caves and made crude weapons and tools from the sticks, stones and bones which were strewn in our primitive front yards. Our tools however, have changed a great deal. The flint has become a laser, the arrowhead has become the stealth fighter, the hollowed-out log beat with sticks has become the world wide web. This dizzying increase in power, precision and popularity of technology seems almost without limit. Like the Arms Race the race in productivity tools is pushing and challenging us each day to keep-up and not fall behind. "Is this robotic total station fast enough? Can I wait six months to buy that RTK/GPS system. Am I jeopardizing my company by not investing soon enough in advanced technology? Do we have a Technology Gap?"

Isaac Asimov, the prolific writer who gave us the term "robotics", defined the Frankenstein Syndrome as the expectation of people that our creations and inventions will be our undoing. From the malevolent chaos let loose from Pandora's box, to the technology busting Ludites, to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" we have fought, resisted and struggled with technology and its effects. Certainly technology is a two-edged sword: it can be used as a competitive weapon against our opponents and it can also overwhelm our organization and become a technologic anchor which drags our ship down to a gleeful Davy "Murphy" Jones who adds it to his locker's techno junk pile.

Surveyors and other field professionals are split on the use of advanced technology. A few aggressively employ high tech tools, many bury their heads in the sand and hope they will be able to get by without having to buy and learn another new damnable device, most wait and see if their colleagues and competitors make effective use and money with new tools before they invest. Many surveyors are fearful and reluctant to learn about new technology. They view it with distrust and suspicion. Even though technology - which can be defined as the combination of tools and techniques - has always been a critical element in the surveying profession.

The tools and instruments a surveyor uses have changed more in the last 25 years that they did in the previous 2,500 years. With the advent of electronics, computers, communications and advanced optics the modern surveyor can do more work, faster and more accurately, with fewer people than ever before. There will be no turning back. Once the genie is out of the bottle he seldom returns. The important question is how will advancing technology effect your business and can these changes be put to your advantage.


Who can best exploit new technology?

Tradition and authority go hand in hand. The people who are often most threatened by new technology are the "old guard." Those who have worked their way up over the years. Learning their jobs the old fashioned way - by doing it. Progressing up the ladder of success a rung at a time, based on what and who they knew. It's the new kids in town who have the most to gain by exploiting new technology to leap frog over the old guard. Technology has no respect for tradition. It does not inherently admire the aged nor the wisdom of the ancients. Like all tools technology must be used appropriately in order to achieve positive results. Technology is the lever which can be used by the young and aggressive to displace the old and entrenched. Upstarts have the advantage! The technologically adept will be able to progress more quickly within medium and larger firms and as a small or sole proprietor surveying company they will able to attract more jobs and earn more profits through the intelligent application of advanced technology.

This is not to say that tools make the craftsman. A new robotic total station or an expensive RTK/GPS system will only get you into trouble quicker if you don't know your craft. These assumptions are based on comparable talents and skills. Just like a nice new set of power tools cannot assure that you will build a quality house. But, assuming you and your neighbor are about equally skilled, you should be able to enjoying a glass of wine in front of a cozy fire in your new home, ahead of your neighbor, thanks to the advantage your power tools gave you over your hand-tooled competitor. What is truly needed is a healthy balance of tools, techniques and talent. And since we must work in teams in collaboration with other people and groups we must be able to manage projects and change in cooperation with others.

The introduction of new technology can provide advantages to people, companies and firms which are agile and customer or client oriented. Larger companies and agencies must struggle reengineering their traditional, and thus far successful hierarchical structures which are reluctant to change and adopt new technologies and methods. It's harder to change things which work , "If it ain't broke don't fix it." mentality. Small, focused, aggressive companies can adopt new tools and apply them in innovative ways to satisfy client needs. Like the human's mammal predecessors surviving and then thriving in a world dominated by dinosaurs, their facile minds and versatile hands solving problems close to the ground, living by their wits, day to day, in the precarious underfoot dust and danger of their dimwitted behemoth competitors.

Power to the People

One of the great ironies of technology is the reverse "1984" effect. Instead of a few giant electronic brains providing the huge government/industry complex Big Brother like control over our lives, (although this is always a concern,) small micro computers on our desks, on our laps and in our hands have provided The People, with an enormous amount of technological power. Technology has proven to be a great tool of democratization. Think of the compelling image of the brave and foolish twin-bagged shopper in Tiananmen Square blocking the advance of the Chinese Army's tank. That image and many other images and descriptions of peoples' heroism was broadcast on TV around the world and narrowcast by fax and Internet - "Knowledge is Power' and "The Truth Shall set You Free." "Small is Beautiful." "Power to the People!"

In a less dramatic, but in many ways just as heroic a struggle is taking place in the US and around the globe as small businesses and entrepreneurs take on the Goliaths of the world. If you own or run a small surveying or mapping firm you have, pound for pound, a technological advantage over your larger competitors. Your challenge is to focus on providing your clients with high quality, cost effective services. You must know which tools to buy, when to buy them, how to best apply them, and how to recruit and keep talented people.

To be sure, large and medium sized companies and agencies are not just sitting there ready to roll-over and let you take away their tasty business bones. They too are trying to be more competitive and focused on customer's needs. They also feel the threat of global competition and privatization. They too have the basic instinct for survival. Even though they are big, they are frightened and their low octane adrenaline is slowly pumping through their out-of-condition bodies. (The smell of titanic spirit.) But they have greater resources and can attract good people. They send their managers and supervisors to workshops and seminars to learn to act like a small responsive company. They trouble is, it is an act! They can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk? There is nothing more motivating and focussing than being so close to the road that you feel each bump and stone, you breathe the dirt and dust of reality. You can smell the earth, the past, the future. (Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.)

That is the real world. That is the truth. When you are big and become isolated and protected from the real world truth, your responses are more sluggish, your feel for client problems are less deft. It's like trying to assemble watches with mittens on. The exception which proves the rule, of course, is a company like Microsoft. Although mammoth and rich beyond greed, Microsoft has the body of the dinosaur but the mind and instinct of a frightened road runner …MEEP ….MEEP! It still is a jungle out there folks. And we need the best tools, techniques and teammates to survive and win.

It's not taught in schools

You'd think the kids coming out of school would have an advantage using advanced technology. It is true that most students in college today get a lot more hands-on computer time and are likely to be more comfortable with CAD systems, the Internet and other computer driven tools. However most schools are hard pressed to keep up with advancing technologies. New tools are expensive and teachers and professors have difficulty in keeping pace with the rapidly evolving technology. What today's practicing professionals need to know about technology is not taught in the schools.

You are responsible for seeking out critical information for your firm's success. Your best source of information on the latest advances in technology are trade magazines, shows and conferences, your local dealer's workshops and showroom, and hands-on sales demos and loaners. The schools for the most part are either too theoretical or too far behind the curve to be high tech applications oriented. Your regional chapter of the Land Surveyor Association should be a good source of real world information and experience. If it isn't, take an active role and make it so. You should also develop a network of colleagues and contacts who you can trust for advice and support.

You must continue with education. You should always have something to read or study. You have no time to lose. Surveyors asleep in a truck (what has four wheels and sleeps six) is not a joke, it is a tragedy. If it's raining, and you or your crew, goof-off, go to the mall, waste the day - it is professional negligence! Surveyors may wind-up on the endangered professions list. Typesetters had a long honored tradition and craft. But, they're just about gone. It happens! Please don't be smug or take comfort in laws and regulations which currently assure surveyors some protection in boundary surveys. This is a small and diminishing market segment and remember, "He who is written in can be written out."

Take pride and joy in your profession and, like you tell your kids about the environment, leave it a little better off than you found it. Think of those who've passed and, the hardship and danger they overcame in the exploration and mapping of this great untamed country. And think of those who will follow and the technology rich and stressful world in which they must live and work. Every day you must engage yourself in your work, your craft, your tools. Things are not going to slow down. They are in fact speeding up. As we will cover in following sections, 1997 promises to see dramatic increases in field productivity technology.

New technology presents an ever increasing rate of progression. We sometimes feel trapped, robot-like, servants to the machine or system, struggling to keep up, like the conveyor belt workers portrayed by Chaplin in "Modern Times" or Lucy in the "Chocolate Factory" episode. And, there are costs and losses for every advance in technology. However, in the span of about a hundred years, the journey the pioneers made along the Oregon Trail went from a six month perilous adventure to a three day joy ride - top down, radio on, at 65 glorious MPHs on the great American highways. And who amongst us would give up the power to surf 57 mindless channels with our wireless remotes - talk about your Manifest Destiny! From hearty pioneers to fatty couch potatoes - oh thank you Prometheus, god of foresight, the great Titan who gave Man fire and tools to elevate Man above the animals of earth. Click…Click…

Reasons for Change

Life is change. Progress is successful change. The world is not only smaller it is faster. It took weeks before many Americans knew that President Lincoln was assassinated, it took minutes for the world to learn that Madonna had her baby. We are one world and consequently now must compete with the guy down the street and the gal across the sea. We are wired, linked and connected. In the office and increasingly at home, and now the final frontier, the field.

We once were protected by our prowess in the wilderness. We are now threatened by GIS geeks with purse sized GPS systems who are delighted with football field sized accuracy. What in the name of Lewis and Clark are we to do? Compete or die. The once endangered American manufacturing industries have responded to life threatening challenges from Japan and Germany. Those companies which survived have flourished. Chrysler now entices us with the Viper and Prowler, and Harley still excites us with its throaty roar and neck lashing power.

The large communication and computing companies are continually restructuring, reengineering, down and right sizing. We are even told the federal government is re-inventing itself - sounds a bit like doing your own brain surgery. DOTs and other agencies are seeking to privatize to be more productive and cost effective by outsourcing projects to private companies.

There will be an increasing demand for small, sharp, surveying firms to do work that was once only the dominion of only the big firms and agencies. Small agile firms also have the power of passion. Owners and entrepreneurs and their motivated workers can out produce their larger competitors through team work, technology and a passion for personal involvement and professional excellence. A large company is like a sledge hammer - powerful but blunt. A small company is more like an ice pick - sharp but persuasive

The manufacturing industries and communication businesses have been put through tortuous changes caused by advancing technology, the end of the cold war and the global economy, over the last couple of decades. And it's now our turn in the bucket. Every change presents us with opportunity and risk. Flight or fight, which shall it be? Where can you hide? Jump in and enjoy the trip! Accept the challenge, be a Man or a Woman. Be all that you can be. Better to have lived and tried rather than to lurk in the underbrush hiding with the other meek creatures - meek… meek, click…click. "Which shall it be?" asks H.G. Wells at the end of "Things to Come" How about you, Bucky? Which shall it be?

End Part 1