I'm not certain "always seen as an interm solution" would be an accurate assessment of PET Rainer.
It seems to me that PET was assumed to be the low hanging fruit, the easier of PET/POET to be put into production. With its' lack of the optical gear attached, this made sense. This was at least 18 months ago.
Now, things have changed. The new executive have used their knowledge and connections to determine that in fact POET was viable, both in theory and in practice, and that the market needed POET now.
This, obviously, had not occurred to PC due to his lack of knowledge about the industry in general. Also, perhaps Dr.T was unable to convince PC that POET was the way to go since clearly it is a more complex animal and would require more effort. 18 months ago the company needed money, and relatively soon, so low hanging was imperative.
My point is, as we have said many times, things change. With the arrival of the new executive and their legions of knowledge, new avenues opened and men with ears for what Dr.T was saying came on the scene. They could see that Dr.T had developed POET to the point it could be manufactured, and demand would make it highly desirable.
This was also PC's doing, and I think his finest achievement.
Will PET be relegated to the dustbin of semiconductor history? Perhaps, or, it may still be used for other, less noble purposes.
In any case, I'd be surprised if we never heard of PET again, but then again, I've been surprised a lot since coming here.
Regards.
