On Wed, 9 Dec 1998 00:56:25 -0500 Sean Breheny writes: > > >This has been a concern of mine for some time because I am fearful >that hobbists may eventually be left out of the loop if manufacturers go >totally ASIC for small-signal and digital applications and the production >process for ASICs is still too expensive for hobbists to get involved in. > >Are my fears unfounded? I hope so. > I think ASICs only make sense on large volume products. There are still plenty of smaller volume products where programmable micros (OTP PICs) and FPGAs (or PALs or whatever) would still make a lot of sense. I got started in all this (after learning vacuum tube electronics) by wire wrapping 7400 series logic and 741 op amps about 30 years ago. You can still buy those parts. So... ASICs (or mask ROM micros) will take over large volume products, but programmable and small scale integration stuff should be around for smaller volume products and hobbyists. Just my opinion.. Harold Harold Hallikainen harold@hallikainen.com Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. See the FCC Rules at http://hallikainen.com/FccRules and comments filed in LPFM proceeding at http://hallikainen.com/lpfm ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]