There is a "shade tree" law from the 1970s that states that computing capacity doubles every few years. In fact, computing capacity for the size of the computer or device has outstripped that by several orders of magnitude in the last five years. As evidence of that, we now see cell phones that were only found in science fiction or spy novels not so long ago, and iPods and personal audio players that put 10,000 recordings in the palm of a 14-year-old's hand. This technology explosion has profoundly impacted the engine and motive power industry from top to bottom; from lawn mowers to 500-ton GCW mine trucks. Just in time as well, since the EPA and its equivalents in most of the industrialized world have adopted ever more stringent emissions requirements that would be absolutely impossible to meet without computer controls of engine operation and performance.

Another aspect of this merger of mechanical and electronic technologies is the convergence of diesel and gasoline engine management technologies so that in the more advanced versions of each type of engine, just about the only things different are the compression ratios, rpms and the strength of the working parts.

Finally, the most important part of this revolution is the restriction of information that is starting to strangle the non-OEM world, which is likely to continue in the future. Simply put, if a computer is going to be used to control and monitor critica...