At 08:17 PM 2/11/98 -0500, you wrote: And there is plenty of opportunity in terms of software -- new uses for the internet connectivity is a big one. CUSeeMe, for example and the internet phone stuff... These are things that make me envision some guy, surrounded by empty coke bottles, about 3 in the morning thinking, "Hey, if I can send data over voice lines, why can't I send voice over data lines?" and such. Also, how about purpose-built devices? Wanna buy a dedicated alphapaging station so you're grandmother (who keeps pointing her calculator at the Microwave and trying to change the channel) can just turn it on, type a message (See, grandma, it's just like a typewriter!) and hit a send button to send you an alphapage? Probably can't do it affordably. But take a Basic Stamp, add a keyboard and a little LCD screen, some code, and voila... Speaking whihc, has anyone else ever read Heinlein's book (whose name I've forgotten) about the inventor whose partners steal everything and freeze him for 20 years etc? One of the things he invents is an automated vacuum cleaner. When Heinlein wrote the book, I'm sure that would have been very expensive and very difficult to do. Now, however, it would seem like an acheivable goal, especially since Heinlein does a lot of the specs for you... So how come you can't buy one at Target? Anyone want to make millions? (That book, btw, is what made me want to be an EE (along with Steve Ciarcia calling it "programming in solder"). Perhaps someday I'll finally get to become one...) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/