My mistake, I was talking about the hardware design, which is in the
neighborhood of 15 - 50 components, 6 to 10 square inches of
PC board space, generally doublesided sometimes 4 layers.

Assuming we haven't over specified the PIC (tried to get a $4 PIC
to replace a $20 DSP) the software would nominally take about 40
hours of billable time. Programmers go for anywhere from $35 - $150
an hour.

So figure two weeks from idea to rev II assembled and test PCBs.

In four months we can build a complete computer with its own chassis,
power supply, and operating system (assuming we port one of course,
writing an OS from scratch takes MUCH longer).

If you're serious about getting something built, it doesn't take much time
anymore. Of course being serious can mean investing $60K+ in equipment.

--Chuck