Kuro, MediaMVP, TiVo, TeraStation -- and us?

[Gregor Richards]

Georg Wrede wrote:
> While on the IBM Developer Works site, I stumbled on an interesting 
> article about the new breed of computing devices (IMHO, soon to flood 
> the world, in numbers exceeding both PCs and cellphones).
> 
> http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-lobmediamvp.html
> 
> Basically, these are VCR cassette size units containing a single-board 
> computer with Linux. They seem to be (again, IMHO) becoming the new 
> platform-of-choice for garage firms developing totally new applications 
> for the digital world. (Gee, sounds like I'm selling them!)
> 
> Many new firms use these as-is in home heating automation, various 
> set-top appliances, for automotive control, security systems, robotics, 
> toys, point-of-sale terminals, self service trade show stands, 
> firewalls, handheld bookkeeping or measuring devices, computers for 
> pre-schoolers, etc.
> 
> As for myself, for the better part of this year I've been looking for 
> something smaller than a real PC, because I need to deploy several 
> computers throughout the factory floor, and for this PCs get clunky and 
> waste a lot of room, money, and maintenance resources. Some of the 
> choices I've eyed at are:
> 
> http://www.armkits.com/Product/sbc2410III.asp
> http://www.armkits.com/Product/STDV710A.asp
> http://www.harerod.de/centipad/html/centipad.html (in German)
> 
> Now, what has held me back so far is, I definitely want to continue all 
> my development in D! <putting hand behind ear, waiting for intense 
> applause and roar from the audience/>
> 
> With the GCC toolchain that comes default with most of these, one would 
> assume that GDC is a viable alternative.
> 
> Opinions?

GDC is certainly a viable alternative. With ARM, you're already set. 
configure-make-install and you're done. Cross-compilation is easy.

Seems like a non-problem to me.

  - Gregor Richards

PS: We all know that VMs with Java are the ideal solution for small, 
low-memory low-power boards. Because VMs rool.