| From the Editor
By Greg Thomason Imagine the Possibilities
It happened again. Communications broke off with another satellite. Over 42 million people in the United States, alone, were affected.
The May 20, 1998, satellite failure didn't involve an imaging satellite, as has been the recent trend. This latest occurrence involved a communications satellite, PanAmSat's Galaxy IV used to relay pager messages and media feeds (signals).
Aside from pointing out the fact that satellite mishaps can occur almost any time, and involve other industries outside the remotes sensing market, news of the May 20 satellite failure provides an opportunity to reflect on the parallels and differences between the satellite imaging and communication industries.
Of greatest interest to me is how, in brief ten-year time frame, pagers-those funny little boxes everyone from Cub Scout den mothers to neighborhood drug lords wear-could go from being an obscure, non-necessity to being essential attire? How did the communications industry reach out and grab us? What convinced a large portion of society to not only let loose of some serious up-front change in order to buy these incessant beepers, but then also be quelled into remitting monthly payments for the use of this service? I believe the answer lies in the communication industry's ability to create a perceived need through marketing and then meet the resulting demand with available products and services.
Marketing in this context didn't just entail expending money on media buys. The concept that communication companies put into play was larger than that. Back when the communication industry was attempting to commercialize pagers, that industry's corporate executives realized that an image needed to be built which would attract the uninitiated into using this technology. They elected to focus on portraying pagers as symbols of one's importance and as providing a vital communication link to those we love. Thus, in a few short years pagers transcended from being a technological necessity for doctors, EMTs, and corporate executives, to pervading the market as a status symbol and convenience for over 42 million U.S. users.
The most glaring difference between the communication industry and the remote sensing industry is that the remote sensing industry doesn't have 42 million customers and has yet to take steps to establish such a user base. That's not to say that the major players vying for a piece of this market and expending $100s of millions to achieve their goals haven't all envisioned a larger market than what currently exists.
So, it seems, this is a good time to imagine the possibilities, starting with the one common link between the two industries: the ability to fulfill our need to know. In terms of remote sensing, that need to know spans all industries and infiltrates into our personal lives. It encompasses change detection and the ability to provide affordable, up-to-date positioning information. If optimistically only ten percent of the potential professional markets currently uses remote imagery for site surveying, engineering development, short and long-term planning, environmental and soil monitoring, remediation work, and in retail business, the education process ahead of the industry is huge.
A quick look at the consumer market reflects an even greater untapped potential among outdoor enthusiasts, users of intelligent transportation systems, and in education.
So how does the remote sensing industry get from here to there? In short, it needs to follow the lead established by the communications industry and crate a perceived need through marketing, and then meet the resulting demand with available products and services. Whereas the communications industry didn't bore its target audience with discussions on the circuit boards that make the technology possible, the remote sensing industry needs to step back from the technology involved and begin marketing seamless solutions: Simple to use, easily accessible, and highly affordable.
Granted, the streak of failed satellite launches that have dogged the remote sensing industry keep the industry from immediately offering the latest, high resolution, multi-and hyper-spectral imagery that we are all awaiting. But the industry needs to recognize that if this technology is going to evolve like the pager industry has, assuming a similar omnipresent role in our lives; the marketing needs to begin now in attracting the uninitiated into using this technology. Greg Thomason Back |
