Maybe so, Maybe not. For example, my several recent posts all tagged [EE] are all PIC=20 related: I'm doing a project that has as its main element a RF module=20 made by someone else. I'm using a PIC to control that module. This project is a real learning experience for me: first Flex PCB,=20 first time using a PIC in a QFN package. Yeah - I do see the Arduino platform taking the place of PICs in many=20 hobby projects. That isn't a bad thing - there is a place for both. I can tell you that as a professional who builds stuff that has to=20 work and be serviced for very long periods of time (decades), I would=20 not EVER consider using an Atmel controller. Atmel has the=20 distressing habit of obsoleting part numbers. Microchip still makes=20 the very first PIC in production (16c54) and pretty much everything=20 else ever made by them. Same with some of the really cool new controllers that are now=20 available: ARM Cortex and such. If I can't be sure that these parts=20 are going to be available for decades, I have to weigh carefully=20 whether I want to use those parts in some of my designs. dwayne At 05:47 PM 8/6/2015, Bob LeDoux wrote: >Have you noticed that very few of the topics are PIC related? I've=20 >been lurking for years, programming PIC's, as a hobby, for 15 years,=20 >primarily in assembler. Most of my work used absolute code, none of=20 >this "project" building. As Microchip raised the ladder of=20 >technology the climb to the first rung has gotten quite high. > >Microchip seems to have lost the hobby market. I guess its the=20 >evolution of embedded processors. > >-- >Bob LeDoux --=20 Dwayne Reid Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd Edmonton, AB, CANADA (780) 489-3199 voice (780) 487-6397 fax www.trinity-electronics.com Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .