Probably not have time to log in to/. and read and post messages about it if I'm someplace that's really gonna get blasted.
Other than that, if I'm in a decent, sturdy building that's not low-lying and could get flooded - check my backups. And then make one more set just in case.
Oh yeah, and make a set of backups and check that they're good.
Arrange for somebody to shut everything down if it gets really bad or the power or connectivity goes ( which it probably will ).
Oh and while I'm thinking about it, make a set of backups and verify them.
They're targeting a Street Price of $99 for everything. The book, console, power supplies, cables, Blank Cartridge and SDK.
I see this as an interesting way to do quick-and-dirty projects that give you more options than your average embedded system. It's got composite video, audio, joystick connections, serial, and cartridges. All you could do yourself with an embedded system, but then you'd have to put them all in yourself. This thing shows up already assembled and ready to go. It's a lot cheaper than a lot of the prototyping boards you see. You probably wouldn't use it for commercial products, although it might be interesting to prototype it and then build a depopulated version of the board that contains just the circuitry you're using. You could leave off the sound or video.
There's a bunch of useful hardware expansion modules listed, and as long as they're relatively cheap you can put together some useful devices pretty quickly. The processor is no big deal, but then it doesn't have to be. It's plenty powerful for lots of uses. The XESS boards aren't bad, but they're overkill and overpriced for a lot of simple projects.
I can see all sorts of uses. You can pick up a small color or monochrome composite display for next to nothing. Or even just use a TV. The built in video and sound open up a lot of possibilities that your average embedded system doesn't have.
If this catches on, I can see a lot of other interesting modules showing up, whether from them or third parties. Digital-to-Analog, Analog-to-Digital, 802.11*, Bluetooth, and Ethernet pop immediately to mind.
For a remote monitoring system, you could take the console and add the 4-port Atari Joystick module wired up to your sensors. Add the CompactFlash module and code it to dump the data to a memory card. Quick and simple, and the only real hardware work you have to do is whatever it takes to hook up the sensors. You could have a little tv hooked up to it so somebody can read what's going on and speakers so you can do alarms and such. Sure you can do something that uses an LCD panel, but when you can buy a brand-new 5" TV for $30 and the video is already built in, why bother?
You could probably whip up a kiosk for only a couple hundred dollars, including the enclosure. Old composite monitors that still work fine are almost to be had for the asking. You could even just buy a new 20 inch TV for $100. Get the Atari Joystick module and wire buttons on the front panel into it. Code up a display in their Basic and you're there.
If they can keep the prices low and the quality high, I can see these popping up in a lot of places.
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Probably not have time to log in to /. and read and post messages about it if I'm someplace that's really gonna get blasted.
Other than that, if I'm in a decent, sturdy building that's not low-lying and could get flooded - check my backups. And then make one more set just in case.
Oh yeah, and make a set of backups and check that they're good.
Arrange for somebody to shut everything down if it gets really bad or the power or connectivity goes ( which it probably will ).
Oh and while I'm thinking about it, make a set of backups and verify them.
They're targeting a Street Price of $99 for everything. The book, console, power supplies, cables, Blank Cartridge and SDK.
I see this as an interesting way to do quick-and-dirty projects that give you more options than your average embedded system. It's got composite video, audio, joystick connections, serial, and cartridges. All you could do yourself with an embedded system, but then you'd have to put them all in yourself. This thing shows up already assembled and ready to go. It's a lot cheaper than a lot of the prototyping boards you see. You probably wouldn't use it for commercial products, although it might be interesting to prototype it and then build a depopulated version of the board that contains just the circuitry you're using. You could leave off the sound or video.
There's a bunch of useful hardware expansion modules listed, and as long as they're relatively cheap you can put together some useful devices pretty quickly. The processor is no big deal, but then it doesn't have to be. It's plenty powerful for lots of uses. The XESS boards aren't bad, but they're overkill and overpriced for a lot of simple projects.
I can see all sorts of uses. You can pick up a small color or monochrome composite display for next to nothing. Or even just use a TV. The built in video and sound open up a lot of possibilities that your average embedded system doesn't have.
If this catches on, I can see a lot of other interesting modules showing up, whether from them or third parties. Digital-to-Analog, Analog-to-Digital, 802.11*, Bluetooth, and Ethernet pop immediately to mind.
For a remote monitoring system, you could take the console and add the 4-port Atari Joystick module wired up to your sensors. Add the CompactFlash module and code it to dump the data to a memory card. Quick and simple, and the only real hardware work you have to do is whatever it takes to hook up the sensors. You could have a little tv hooked up to it so somebody can read what's going on and speakers so you can do alarms and such. Sure you can do something that uses an LCD panel, but when you can buy a brand-new 5" TV for $30 and the video is already built in, why bother?
You could probably whip up a kiosk for only a couple hundred dollars, including the enclosure. Old composite monitors that still work fine are almost to be had for the asking. You could even just buy a new 20 inch TV for $100. Get the Atari Joystick module and wire buttons on the front panel into it. Code up a display in their Basic and you're there.
If they can keep the prices low and the quality high, I can see these popping up in a lot of places.