[Coco] The BIGGEST PROBLEM with (So-Called) NEW CoCo Hardware...

[Dave Philipsen]

On 3/5/2017 11:54 AM, Allen Huffman wrote:
>
> As a USB gateway, it has to at least have the full USB stack. I come from the Microware OS-9 world where we had fast boot tech and could power up a device and have it booted to a GUI and full Java (before there was "embedded java") in a few seconds. Meanwhile, Linux in the TiVo took ... longer.
>
> During my time with Microware, I recall that DirectTV visited us, looking in to an OS for their boxes. Pity that didn't happen.
>
> I also saw a conference room with a disassembled "famous brand" TV digital recorder, which was directed to get a bill of materials to show the difference in cost savings from using OS-9 and needing far less horsepower and memory and flash.  The goal was to show that even with paying for an RTOS instead of "free" Linux, you could come out ahead. Not sure who that was for. We were in a bunch of digital cable boxes back then.
>
It's a shame that for certain embedded applications some companies have 
been convinced of the need for a full-blown OS with all of the bells and 
whistles, etc.  I did a job for a company many years ago where they 
insisted on a Pentium-class machine with hard drive, operating system, 
and so many megabytes of memory, etc.  And in reality an 8-bit CPU 
(without an OS) running at 2-3 MHz had more than enough horsepower to do 
the job.  That's what happens when non-technical people try to get 
involved in the specifications.

Dave