Invisible Processors: They have us surrounded
Jack Ganssle wrote an article on the continued demand for 4 and 8-bit microcontroller. Every year the ‘experts’ and sales people claim will be the end of the 8-bit microcontroller. Companies have strived to make upgrade paths to 32 bit. But the fact remains, basic microcontrollers, sold for pennies, are all that is needed for the majority of applications, applications that we use everyday without a single thought of the processor in it.
Ken Olson, head of Digital Equipment Corporation, said in 1977 (six years after the first commercially-successful microprocessor was introduced) “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”
Count the processors in your home and ponder that statement. Unless you live in a cave you do not have enough fingers and toes to count all the computers in your home. Its a good read, check it out.
