[rescue] DECstation 5000

[Tim H.]

On Tue, 16 Jul 2002 19:12:15 -0400
Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:

>   People have been predicting the death of SGI (and Cray, and Apple,
> and...) for as long as they've been predicting the death of 8-bit
> microcontrollers.

Umm, well, how alive is Cray, or should I say, what resemblance exists
between Cray then and Cray now?

Other than that quibble, predicting the death of an entire class of
product which Just Works, and for which the uses are not changing, is
kinda dumb.  8-bit MCs are all that will ever be needed for a huge group
of embedded products, from consumer stuff like microwaves and smart
thermostats to tons of process control stuff.  There is no reason at all
to put a faster/bigger controller in a mechanical process that is speed
limited by the mechanics, has a fixed number of input and output
variables, and has a lifespan listed in decades.  Besides, at this point
the price of 8-bit controllers is smaller than the price of the
start/stop button to run it.

In our level of technology small microcontrollers are about as
ubiquitous, versatile, and in need of a change as is a nail. 
Fortunately the horrible feature glut demanded by the windows public
because MS says they need it doesn't apply to the embedded market.

I do see however a growing market for bigger embedded processors. They
aren't replacing the smaller ones, they are running smaller limited
versions of bigger things, like dedicated  email devices (UGH!) and
such.  My GPS receiver has an embedded 386 in it.

Tim