>> So in the future, you'll have a serial port or it'll be on your list
>> anyway. Getting a bootloader into the PIC is the important thing.

So if actual USB PIC programmers reach the price of USB-Serial
converters ($20-$40, right?) and are readily available from
reputable mail order vendors without exorbitant shipping and
handling charges, do you still really need a more DIY-style
interface to the PC?  I mean, USB->serial converters don't have
the popularity and economies of scale you'd expect.  Fact is, the
average computer user doesn't have anything serial to connect TO,
either, and despite the attraction to SOME, many would-be-pic-users
don't want to have to fiddle much with their PC to program PICs.
And we're already there, right?  USB "Baseline flash programmer": $25.
I can buy a USB-Serial cable for less than that, but not around the
corner at radioshack (Model: 26-183, Catalog #: 26-183 $39.95)
Once you can program any of the baseline chips, THEY can be programmed
to put bootloader code into everything else.

(Hmm.  There's another idea.  Tiny PIC and big serial flash, pre-loaded
with bootstrap code for "all known" PICs.  Connect it up to your
bare chip and get a bootloader-based chip instead...  Dispense with
the need for "communications" as part of the bootstrap process.)

BillW

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