Like most everyone in the industry, the Lab Guys spend most of our time looking forward. We wait for the next release of software, anticipate new and more powerful platforms, and search for a killer new product that will set the industry on its collective ear. The rest of the time, we are firmly rooted in the present. We wrestle with software features that don't work as documented, fight hardware components that defy the laws of physics, and struggle to make products jump through the hoops that their four-color printed advertisements show.

Th...