528: Goldfish Chunks

Embedded.fm · 25 Jun 2026 · 1h 10m · Episode 528

What this episode covers

Tyler Hoffman, co-founder of Memfault (now part of Nordic Semiconductor), discusses the architecture and philosophy of Memfault, a platform for embedded device diagnostics and observability. He explains the separation of operational data from product data, the 'device-in-control' approach to firmware updates, and the use of Memfault Diagnostic Service (MDS) for BLE devices. The conversation covers when to use Memfault versus building custom solutions, the challenges of low-bandwidth connectivity, and the realities of scaling fleet management.

Mentioned

Companies
Memfault, Nordic Semiconductor, Pebble, Datadog, Fitbit
Products
nRF Cloud, MDS
Chips
ESP32
Tools
Zephyr

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