Through the years there has been a proliferation of standards, and not many industries have created more than our electronics industry. Do you ever wonder why certain standards end up as odd numbers, seemingly unrelated to a logical unit of measurement? The debate rages on over whether or not the standard that determined the diameter of the solid rocket boosters for the space shuttle actually originated from the back side of a horse.2 Curious and interesting, yes. But, we are certainly more productive by accepting the fact that there will always be many standards and finding ways to make them play well together. There is one specific area for both engineers and makers, where the incompatibility of standards is particularly troublesome: prototyping platforms. Fortunately, the MAXREFDES72# reference design is available to mitigate these incompatibilities
