On Fri, 19 Jul 2002, Brendan Moran wrote:

>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>Hash: SHA1
>
>> Anything with a relatively flat memory model and no need for six
>> tons of legacy junk to run peripherals no-one even remembers
>> anymore will outclass a PC in the same price class.
>
>When was the last time you used a serial or parallel port?  Or anyone
>else here, for that matter?  I think that really, the only legacy
>stuff that can be dropped sensibly is the ISA port.  Or, what were
>you thinking of?

Of course you know what the PIC was originally designed for (the General
Instrument design, not the current PROM based thing). Hehe. <duck>

As to what should be dropped, I'd start with x86 compatible code, which is
horrible at the machine level, the CPU, the three big modes (protected,
unprotected and one emulating the other in some hermaphrodite
arrangement). I'd lose all non-open source code on the way, but I could
run it in emulation, maybe faster than originally intended. A RISC
coprocessor on a PCI card could supply up to 16 512kbps serial links.
Another could supply several parallel port equivalents. Same for
firewaire, whatever you need. I'd get an embeddable board with standard
connections, with no idiosynchratic 'on board' things, with peripheral
cards, cpu sets and main boards manufactured by several makers. Kind of
like a PC without the mess that's inside them nowadays.

Peter

--
http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us!
email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body