Hi Rob,

It is Palo Alto! I remembered it the instant I saw it italicised in your post. And I did NOT know they were still in business. Thanks.

As for the subject of this thread, I think people lose sight of the fact that a bigger hammer isn't always the best solution.

Just in case there's a cultural divide here, the phrase "bigger hammer" alludes to an addage that says (often sarcastically), "If it doesn't fit, get a bigger hammer."

Anyway, if bigger hammers were always the best solution, we wouldn't be drilling for oil or mining coal or putting up windmills and solar panels. Instead we'd all be driving around in Tocomac powered SUVs and Al Gore would be warning the UN that helium would be responsible for melting the North Pole in the next 5 to 7 years.

Someday the 805x, and 8-bit controllers in general, might go the way of buggy whips. Maybe energy will become superfluous, free and plentiful, and they'll be abandoned in favor of standardization. Maybe something else will cause their demise. But I think they'll be more like staples, paper clips and adhesive tape for years to come. No longer sexy and trendy, but plentiful nonetheless because of their efficiency and effectiveness.