Researchers are not generally instrumentalists. They have to trust manufacturers to produce and support the instruments that have direct and inescapable consequences for their careers. Most manufacturers want to mass-produce instruments for a wide audience. Designed-in obsolescence is a given. Innovation and excellence are rare. And then there is our way. Where innovation and excellence are the norm and instruments are endlessly upgradable. Our powerful implementation of software is a key factor. Computerizing research spectrophotometers was our only focus from 1976-1991. We joke with real seriousness that “Hardware is a complication that houses the sample and produces the signal. Everything else should be done by a computer.” (Olis Clarity)
