Fresh on the heels of the techno-extravaganza orgy that is the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, we journalists (and presumably, you engineer and software types) are daydreaming about implementing some cool new features into tomorrow’s critical system designs. But sorry, Charlie – most of this glitzy consumer stuff just won’t cut it in mission-, safety-, and life-critical systems like those for which VME is uniquely suited. Instead, we are begrudgingly forced to stick with what we know and what’s already been proven to meet critical system parameters. It’s time to reacquaint yourself with these key assumptions.