> The decline?  More people...engineers, hobbyist, etc are using the "off t=
he
> shelf" solutions such as Ardunio, Beagle, Pi.  Why not...software is
> sometimes the simple path.  Hardware design is falling off because these =
are
> now becoming just software solutions.  I still design "use specific" hard=
ware
> when using something off the shelf just doesn't solve the problem.  And t=
he
> fact that ARM processors are SO cheap.  The Pi is a good example, I use i=
t as
> a audio processor that plugs into a PIC based board....the Pi just didn't=
 lend
> itself to the overall solution.

Some of this comes back to the modern 'immediate enjoyment' philosophy - wh=
y go through the hassle of designing a PCB, waiting for it to be turned aro=
und by the PCB house, assembling it, and discovering you made an error, the=
n getting your program to run, when you can jump straight to the last step =
using a Pi or other item you can buy off the shelf?=20

It's probably also cheaper (assuming it is suitable for the job), but even =
if it isn't, it can probably be used to provide a proof of concept stage.




--=20
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