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bjpcjp

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My first job after grad school with at Harris Semiconductor. We were selling RTX processors which natively ran Forth instructions. (The architecture was completely stack-based.)

I agree that Forth is a liability today. I could see it being used as an introductory language - in junior high school, for example - but not much beyond that.

[dead] 13 years ago

Hey, I hear ya. Much respect to the Radar O'Reillys of the world.

I live in Austin. Same concentration of crazy smart people, only with less attitude. Did I mention that you can actually buy a house here? With a chance of paying it off? And a 25 minute commute?

THIS is why 1 of every 50 cars in Austin has a California license plate.

EDIT: there's less access to VC money here. But that doesn't seem to be stopping people.

I can think of several multi-billion-dollar customers that schedule their product releases to the day, quarters in advance, with untold advertising / validation / manufacturing commitments on the line. If your prototype isn't on their doorstep ON THE DAY that you promised, a competitor is selected to take your place. NO BULLSHITTING AROUND. MAKE A SCHEDULE, ACCOUNT FOR THE RISKS, AND EXECUTE.

I can't believe this blog post is even allowed to exist.

As an ex-program manager on major chip projects, I would be astonished if open-source alternatives exist for major design tools. GMs can complain all they want about seat license costs, but they will stick with a proven tool until somebody proves they can meet the same quality metrics.

Don't forget that many large-company positions - HW or SW - are being filled in design centers in India, China, E.Europe and elsewhere. Yes, there is an income difference. But their economies are pumping out hundreds of thousands of engineering grads. And HW design in the U.S. is definitely seen as less glamorous.

Old People 14 years ago

Old guy here.

Musing about the reaction if I reblogged this post with "younguns".

Don't get me wrong, the points are valid. But I'd bet an equivalent post about what could happen to a startup when a young new hire comes in would get uber-flamed. Just sayin'.

I'm pretty much convinced that the GH movement is merely a recognition that us product management folks now have a deeper pool of data on which to base our decisions. This is, in the bigger scheme of things, a recent development and not available to product managers across all industries.

I welcome the controversy. Eventually GH as a buzzword is going to fade away; those left standing will have simply added GH to their personal toolbox. 'nuff said.

Chip prices are a function of supply v. demand and the supplier's learning curve as a function of cumulative volume (ie, yields). Chip prices DO increase as they approach the natural end of their lives due to other suppliers dropping out.