Hardware Podcasts

"Impedance Matching" with Davidson and Vandenbout - Presbytes Pushing Portfolios

The Amp Hour · 15 Jan 2015 · 1h 53m · Episode 232

What this episode covers

Bob Davidson of Ambient Sensors and Dave Vandenbaum of XS Corporation discuss the realities of building physical products, from prototyping pitfalls like melting solar cells to the strategic value of open-source hardware and energy harvesting for IoT. They contrast the innovation-driven culture of small companies with the bureaucratic inertia of large corporations like Bell Labs and HP, emphasizing that execution and customer experience matter more than just the idea. The conversation also covers advice for engineering students, advocating for building a portfolio of projects over chasing grades, and critiques the academic focus on research over practical application.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Ambient Sensors, XS Corporation, Contextual Electronics, Pres Bytes, Keysight, Rigel, HP, AT&T, Bell Labs, Espressif, Tensilica, Linear Technology, Tadiran, OSH Park, Sunstone, Seeed Studio, Western Electronics, Computrol, Nordic Semiconductor, Adafruit, O'Reilly
Products
iBeacon, Zipuino, TL4935, Getting Started with Bluetooth Low Energy
Chips
Motorola 6801, MAC-4, ESP8266, LTC 3330
Also
Bluetooth Low Energy

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