Once again my schedule in the Dental Lab Products newsroom prevented me from attending this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but like many followers of all things high tech I eagerly followed news breaking from the show’s expansive exhibit halls.
2012-01
No one really knows what’s coming just around the corner tomorrow—let alone throughout the next 12 months—but proceeding without even a general concept of what might be on the way can be just as risky.
2011-12
It’s been said that death and taxes are certainties of life. Add change to that list. A new generation of dental lab operators are adapting to trends in the industry that include incorporating new technologies, using different methods of marketing, and coping with downward price pressures from overseas.
2011-12
Some years see groundbreaking technologies sweep into the market and change everything, but 2011 was not one of those years.
That’s not to say there weren’t significant new gadgets and features hitting the (now mostly digital) shelves this year. However, the last 12 months have been more about shifting trends and technology platform transitions that are setting the stage for what a few years from now is likely to be a vastly different looking technological landscape.
2011-11
It was not an easy time in her life when Andrea Tintrup took the reins at Tintrup Dental Laboratory in Mount Vernon, N.Y. in 2000. Andrea never imagined that she would end up finding a business and industry that she loves and would still be running the lab 11 years later.
2011-10
I can still remember the first time I came across a computer mouse when a childhood friend was showing me the brand new Apple Macintosh computer in the corner of his family’s kitchen.
Sure, I’d grown up in a house where there was always at least one machine, but our tan and brown Commodore 64 was text controlled, forcing me to quickly learn both rudimentary typing and the basic commands in order to use the computer on my own. So when I encountered that pixilated cursor and the new concept of pointing and clicking, I was completely blown away.
2011-10
Working in a cramped space in a dentist’s office no larger than a closet is how Robert Renstrom got his start in the dental industry. That job gave him the experience needed to start Renstrom Dental Studio Inc., which is still going strong and is now owned by his sons, Randy and Rick Renstrom.
2011-10
The job ad called for a driver who also wouldn’t mind doing sweeping and other light clean-up work. No weekend work was required and it also promised to teach skills that could be turned into a profession.
Mary Ann Miles was fresh out of high school when she responded to that ad 40 years ago. She never guessed that it would turn into a lifelong occupation and that she would become a co-owner of Schmitt Dental Laboratory Inc. in Saginaw, Mich.
2011-10
Today Apple launched its latest generation of the iPhone, and as always seems to be the case when this company is launching something new, the media and general public are rapt in anticipation. However, this launch was the company’s first big move since founder and technology icon Steve Jobs stepped down from an active roll in running things and the press event seemed a bit lackluster without his smirking boasts about the wonderful things the company's latest can do.
2011-08
Speed and capacity are not common considerations when people think about utility services such as gas, water, electricity and even phone lines.
All of these services are critical to both homes and businesses, and of course people look for ways to reduce their monthly bills through efficient and judicious use of these resources. However, it’s doubtful that you or anyone you know has turned on an electric or gas appliance, or picked up the phone and cursed at the slow speed of the gas, electricity or phone connection.
