Quote:

Am wondering whether megafiddle drives a car or truck or if megafiddle is still hitchin' old Dobbin to the buggy... <grin>

--Mac



Actually a pickup, but you are not too far off. This one is the very first vehicle
I ever owned (bought just this past April) with those new-fangled power windows!
And I am sorry I ever looked under the hood!

I can appreciate the advantages of software control and microcontroller based devices.
The processing speed of modern computers and controllers is truly amazing. Back in the
80's I was working on a program for generating fractal images. The program had to run
overnight for one very low resolution image with just a few colors. Now, even with an
obsolete processor, it takes only seconds, and is high resolution with 24 bit color.
The high speed alone opens up all kinds of possibilities.

And I agree about the complexity adding reliability problems. Not only that, but it can
get in the way if it's something you don't need, making it difficult to use, especially
for casual use.

But that reset button on the DVD player (actually I think it was a recorder) - it should
have been a warning signal. Why would a designer add a reset button unless they expected
the device to crash now and then? Which is exactly what it did.
Dagnabbit!