|
Here’s
a paradox that gets me grinning: The National Marine Electronics Association
(NMEA) seems to be doing a terrific job of bringing standards to increasingly
more complex and interrelated technology, yet the center of this work
is not some humming urban office suite, but rather a quiet parson’s
office in a little church out on the tip of a Maine peninsula!
The
parson is Larry Anderson, who has chaired NMEA’s several standards
committees since 1999. During that time the venerable 0183 data standard
has firmly established itself as the global link between GPS and mapping
devices in cars, planes, computers, and, of course, boats. The ambitious
2000 standard, which allows multiple data talkers and listeners to share
one “plug and play” cable, was introduced a year ago and will
really begin to show its stuff this winter (which we’ll be covering).
NMEA’s latest offering is an Installation Standard for electronics
on boats 25 to 150 feet. I’ve just read through it, and I’m
impressed.
Forging
technology standards in a fast-evolving and capitalistic industry has
got to be hard work. Imagine corralling a bunch of manufacturers—who
tend to be proud (and secretive) about their own gear and disparaging
of their competitors’—and getting them to agree on one way
to do something. And to see how consumer-unfriendly technology can be
when the process falters, try buying a simple cable to connect your cellphone
to a marine antenna (see “Electronics Q&A,” this story).
Thus, I was quite curious to meet Anderson, who is, in the words of NMEA
executive director Beth Kahr, the “driving force” behind the
organization’s standards work.
THE
MAN
Anderson was born
and raised in the salty fishing village of Port Clyde, Maine. As a restless
young man in the 1960’s, he turned a passion for CB radios first
into a thriving local retail operation and then into a wide-ranging career
in marine electronics. He was involved in the early development of raster
scan radar and eventually held management positions at Raytheon, Robertson,
and SEA, often European posts. On the personal side, through the decades
and travels, Anderson stayed in touch with his faith and the Advent Christian
Church of his childhood. Three years ago, when the congregation invited
him to be their lay pastor, he accepted the call. Shortly thereafter,
when the NMEA central office in Maryland suggested that he could fill
in his worklife consulting on standards, he accepted this call, too.
Next
page > Standards continued > Page
1, 2, 3
|