> The arduino is a huge hit. Unfortunately, it uses the atmel chips.
> Well, some like atmel chips, but I don't like them.
> 
> The arduino is awesome. It's extensible, easy to use, clean, small and
fun.
> 
> So why don't we make our own? With the PIC, that is. I know it's
> definitely possible. 


The old joke is a camel is a horse designed by committee.

The PicList couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery, as the saying goes.
That's true for any large group full of opinionated individuals though, or
even not-so-opinionated ones.  The opinionated individuals could do it (and
some have to various degrees), but no doubt not to the satisfaction of the
others.

It's more than just hardware, you need the software too.

You're probably looking at a six month discussion on tab-to-space
conversion, ranging from 'no' to '8 spaces'.  Then you're onto trivial
matters like where the braces should go.  I once added a switch to a program
to change the spelling of a word (which for the life of me I can't remember
now) as various factions put in change requests because it was spelt
'wrong'.  (Dispatch / Despatch!  That's it!).

The most obvious equivalent in the Pic world is the BasicStamp by Parallax.
It's been going for at least 10 years, I'm not sure if it actually uses a
Pic, they were SX (Scenix Pic clones) for a while.

The PicAxe by Revolution is as basic (lol) as you can get, being just a
pre-programmed chip.  Like the Stamp it runs interpreted Basic, and has its
own IDE.  Much cheaper than the Stamp (about x2 the price of a Pic blank)
but no support board, BYO breadboard.

The Stamp & the PicAxe are targeted at the education market, but still
perfectly ok for hobbyist and prototype people.

There's also ooPic and a few others.

After you finish your calculator, write up a spec and see who's interested.

Tony 

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist