Once upon a time,
Finding out about new chips was one of keeping on the good side of reps,
who would give you data books, real printed books.
Then along came the internet, and every chip was on line, with data and application notes, for the engineer to select and compare.
The reps are long gone unless your working for one of the big money spenders, but the ability to search and compare makes up for that unless you want engineering samples,
BUT
in recent months, I notice things are changing,
I'll use On semi as an example, but I find the same now from Diodes in, Parade, Intel , et all.
I've just spent hours on the On semi site,
trying to search for a chip to do a function we want , doesn't matter what at this point,
The point is, I can not get data sheets on line, I can get the "product brief"
but the product briefs seem to have been written by a news paper hack, straight out of school, that tells us nothing.
Basic things like put a bloc diagram , voltage and temperature range in the product brief would be real useful.
So now I have list of chips that might do the job from OnSemi,
now I have to find a distributor in Europe, and fill in an on line form and request please , can I have a data sheet.
one form needed for each part.
a day later , if I'm lucky, I get an email back, asking things like, project name, time to market, where product made, how many per year needed.
I receive one of these automated emails for each part I have asked a data sheet for.
A day or two later, I get a phone call from some sales rep, who does not know any thing about the products, but wants to know has my experience been good . If I'm lucky , I might at this point get a lively email, saying my business is important to them , and a copy of the above mentioned prodct brief.
If I'm lucky, and the wind is in the right direction, I might , after a week , get sent some data sheets.
After 5 minutes I can tell that none of the 5 parts are right for us, as none cover industrial temperature range I need.
For the next month, I will get calls and emails, no matter what I say.
So what used to take minutes, now takes hours,
WHY do companies do this , whats the advantage to them , whats going to happen when all companies do this ?
Finding out about new chips was one of keeping on the good side of reps,
who would give you data books, real printed books.
Then along came the internet, and every chip was on line, with data and application notes, for the engineer to select and compare.
The reps are long gone unless your working for one of the big money spenders, but the ability to search and compare makes up for that unless you want engineering samples,
BUT
in recent months, I notice things are changing,
I'll use On semi as an example, but I find the same now from Diodes in, Parade, Intel , et all.
I've just spent hours on the On semi site,
trying to search for a chip to do a function we want , doesn't matter what at this point,
The point is, I can not get data sheets on line, I can get the "product brief"
but the product briefs seem to have been written by a news paper hack, straight out of school, that tells us nothing.
Basic things like put a bloc diagram , voltage and temperature range in the product brief would be real useful.
So now I have list of chips that might do the job from OnSemi,
now I have to find a distributor in Europe, and fill in an on line form and request please , can I have a data sheet.
one form needed for each part.
a day later , if I'm lucky, I get an email back, asking things like, project name, time to market, where product made, how many per year needed.
I receive one of these automated emails for each part I have asked a data sheet for.
A day or two later, I get a phone call from some sales rep, who does not know any thing about the products, but wants to know has my experience been good . If I'm lucky , I might at this point get a lively email, saying my business is important to them , and a copy of the above mentioned prodct brief.
If I'm lucky, and the wind is in the right direction, I might , after a week , get sent some data sheets.
After 5 minutes I can tell that none of the 5 parts are right for us, as none cover industrial temperature range I need.
For the next month, I will get calls and emails, no matter what I say.
So what used to take minutes, now takes hours,
WHY do companies do this , whats the advantage to them , whats going to happen when all companies do this ?