> I had started to design a system based on z80s along these lines
> (add
> another CPU module as you can afford it) but then I did the math
> and
> figured out how cheap pentiums really were, bang for buck. :)
Well, who ever said anything about cost? It's true that Z80 and
its contemporaries are dirt cheap, but they're also extremely
mature architectures, and extremely stingy when it comes to
power.
For reference, the Nintendo Game Boy is based on a Z80, as
are most of the TI graphing calculators. What is the battery life
expectancy on those devices? A couple of AA batteries can
literally power them for days, continuously. So, they're cheap
AND power stingy. That's a good combination for wearables,
especially disposable ones. While NiMH and LiPolymer batteries
are wonderful things, I can go into any convenience store and buy
a new set of AA batteries, almost anywhere in the world, if my
power levels run low.
As to manufacturing...
We have the technology to burn the equivalent of a Timex-Sinclair
computer onto a single PIC chip...total cost is under $2, and to do
it with a programmer attached to my parallel port. Other types of
chips, possibly a single chip uC of some sort, could easily hold all
the logic and memory for a C64. There's a lot to be said for a
base system that can literally be downloaded to a single, easily
available chip.
For reference, the Motorola 2-way pagers use an embedded single
chip 386 from Intel...a very nearly single chip 386 computer,
commercially available for $100, that is extremely power stingy.
Isn't that a true base system for LINUX? How cheaply could
those be manufactured as wearable cores?
-- Chuck Knight
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