Re: What exactly does "Embedded" means?

Goetz Bock writes:
> Everything that is not part of the base system (everything you dont need
> for the base functionality, e.g. the stuff you add using the expandion
> slot) does not unmake the iPaq an embedded system.

Must disagree. An embedded system is a system in which the computer
is entirely incidental to the purpose of the task. One does not use
an embedded system to write programs, or to "compute". One uses it
for that which it is designed.

A car has an embedded system. My AIWA in-dash MP3 player is an
embedded system. The computer in my GPS receiver, or my camera, or my
caller-id receiver, or my cellphone is an embedded system.

You could make a strong distinction between a computer and an embedded
system by saying that you can't write a program for an embedded
system. You can change its programming, and reload its program, but
it's only ever running one program.

-- 
-russ nelson <sig@russnelson.com>  http://russnelson.com
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