Hardware Podcasts

Distribution, Wozniak & Robots - Early Eight-bit Endgame

The Amp Hour · 8 Oct 2012 · 1h 12m · Episode 116

What this episode covers

Hosts Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the industry shift away from 8-bit microcontrollers, citing Freescale's announcement of its new ARM-based Kinetis L series and the end of development for legacy 8-bit parts. They analyze the business strategy behind this move, contrasting it with Microchip's decision to stick with proprietary MIPS cores to avoid commoditization, and debate the future role of component distributors like DigiKey and Avnet in an era of direct-to-consumer sales and online information. The conversation also covers the challenges of engineering management, including flawed design reviews and the 'MBA playbook' mentality, before highlighting a Wi-Fi deploying robot project and a teardown-based electronics course.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Freescale, Microchip, DigiKey, Avnet, National Instruments, Artisan Asylum
Products
Kinetis L, Arduino, Stompy
Chips
MIPS
Tools
LabVIEW
Also
Kent Lundberg

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