Monitor for iSBC 8024

From: Richard Erlacher <richard_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Mon Oct 30 21:54:58 2000

I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions to the "faster is better" notion. A
couple of manufacturers still make 8048 derivative processors for things
like motor control and remote controls for your home entertainment system.
That doesn't make them the best, nor does it make them the worst, but
there's probably more than one single-chipper for any of those tasks.

Single-chipper is the key term, though. The Z80 isn't a single-chipper, nor
is the 64180 or the Z380, or the 6502. The fact that the parts count is
greater than it would be with a comparably capable MCU is what's made this
sort of part fade into the background. As a CPU, the Z80 was pretty much
the best available when processors of its class were considered suitable for
the microcomputer market. Those days are gone, however, and I'd not give
the Z80 more than a quick look if and only if my client insisted, since it
invariably would demand more parts than, say, a member of the 805x family.
It certainly couldn't compete in the market where PIC's and the like earn
their keep.

Dick

----- Original Message -----
From: Dave McGuire <mcguire_at_neurotica.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2000 2:54 PM
Subject: Re: Monitor for iSBC 8024


> On October 29, ajp166 wrote:
> > > I explained that I was running a Z80-based general-purpose computer
> > >fifteen years ago (an IMSAI with a CCS Z80 CPU board which I still
> >
> > Late adoptor? the first Z80 for me was 1977 (january), NS* running
> > at the astronomical speed of 4mhz. That makes that board 23.8
> > years old.
>
> Well, I suppose it was more like seventeen years ago...I was
> thirteen...
>
> > >have) as my main machine, and that the Z80 processor was a
> > >general-purpose machine that was very popular in the 70s and 80s...and
> > >was definitely nothing "new".
> > >
> > > Know what? HE DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!!
> >
> > Caution clue LART in use. I'd have smacked him in the snout with a
> > rolled up Zilog data book, Ca 1976.
>
> I'll be showing him mine next week. :)
>
> > > So, yes, folks...the Z80 seems to be gearing up for a second
> > >life...this time as an embedded processor. There are many variations
> >
> > No, its been there for the last, oh 15 years doing that.
>
> Of course, but now it's *only* doing that, mainstream-wise. I was
> attempting to point out the shift in role from being a mainstream
> general-purpose processor to being one used almost entirely for
> embedded applications.
>
>
> -Dave McGuire
>
>
Received on Mon Oct 30 2000 - 21:54:58 GMT