RECAP ON THE BEGINNING

You may of read for the last number of years, Karl has been working hard on this new project, officially called “State of Electronics”. It is concerned with the history, development and future of the Australian Electronics Design and Manufacturing Industry. Partly fuelled by his own interests in Electronics, the documentary investigates the life cycle of an industry – how an industry is born, how it develops and then how it goes into decline. It’s a subject that can apply to many forms of industries.

There is now a long list of interviews with many of the people who helped create the Electronics Design & Manufacturing industry in Australia as well as those who are very active within it still today. The documentary will highlight many of the individuals who tinker in their back sheds designing and building innovative electronic devices, large & small scale manufacturers, Repairers, Component Suppliers, Design houses, Technicians, Businessmen and Woman, futurists, Hackers and Organisations with the sole purpose of showing a worldwide audience the state of the Australian Electronics Industry.

 

The format is driven by interviews that are like “Discussions”. The topics vary from how people became involved with electronics as a child, how they developed their careers and then how they changed the world around them with innovation, good business sense etc. However, as with any good story, there is a darker side also. The Documentary is investigating the decline of the industry also. Through both economic and political change, the Electronics Industry is constantly undergoing change. World economic problems as well as technological advancements have meant the end of an era in certain sectors of the Industry, leaving jobs at risk or making them extinct! However, not everything is of doom and gloom. The documentary will also highlight individuals and companies that have been able to break through the difficulties and find their feet on a worldwide platform, delivering state of the art products and innovation.

The documentary to date has been entirely self-funded along with the generous time interviewees have given up for  their interviews. Karl has decided to release some of the documentary as short episodes. They are currently being aired on youtube in the hope of raising more awareness for this little explored subject in Australia and to perhaps find an avenue to fund future releases and the full length documentary.

To date he has been fortunate to film and interview:  Andy Gelme, Andrew Greatbatch, Andrew Griffiths, Dr Bill Petrski, Campbell Bickerstaff, Claire Gervasoni, Dr Chris Nicol, Dr Chris Roberts, Colin Mitchell, Dave L Jones, David Demant, Dick Smith, Doug Ford, Eugene Ruffolo, Gary Johnston, Geoff Holden, Professor Graeme Clark, Grant Petty, Graeme Hood, Ian Debenham, Ian O’Tool, Ian McClean, J. Matthew Pryor, Jonathan Oxer, Jurij Semkiw, Kay Thorne, Kevin Poulter, Leo Simpson, Lorayne Branch, Matthew Connell, Mike Osborne, Owen Hill, Dr Peter Thorne, Petar Atanackovic, Stephan Jones and The late John Spencer with many more to come.

More to follow on computers, education, technology of the future and much much more.