Folks,
It seems that there is several year lag before many of "our"* concernsbecome mainstream. As an example, in December of 2005, I posted a note Re discussions I had with PC Magazine's famous "Cranky Geek" John Dvorak. As of that late date, a well informed chap like he, was not aware of RoHS. NowPC Magazinegives a green rating to all products Re their RoHS compliance and energy usage.
Alsoin late 2005 Idiscussed counterfeit components. TheOctober 13,2008issueof Business Weekhas an article "Dangerous Fakes". This article discusses the growing threat to the United States' military hardware from counterfeit components. Perhaps the most unsettling point in the article, was how easy itis for an inexperienced person to obtain a government supplier code and supply the pentagon with parts obtained through searches on the internet. The supplier is often unaware that they are occasionallysupplying counterfeit components.
Many have worried about reliability of RoHS compliant electronics products. I believe that the increasing numbers of counterfeit components are creating a reliability risk that will dwarf any concerns about RoHS reliability.
Cheers,
Dr. Ron
* Our = those in the electronic assembly industry
The image is of a stealth fighter from http://timm84.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/stealth-bomber.jpg. By using this image, I'm not suggesting that this fighter has any counterfeit components in it.
