Summary of CAMAC: status and outlook

Is everyone going to use CAMAC? Probably not. Does CAMAC represent all the latest thinking in data handling? Again the answer is no. However, one must remember that the time from conception to delivery of a computer makes it partially obsolete before it is ever used. This is the price of progress. A similar gestation time was inevitable for CAMAC. If we were to begin today, CAMAC would be different, but at this point in time we are glad we don't have to start over again. CAMAC has proved its worth in many experimental research situations. Also CAMAC is dynamic; as new technology beccmes available it will obviously be incorporated into the system. Now is the time to take it to the industrial market place. The predominant use of CAMAC should be in industrial data-acquisition and control environments.