How many microprocessors are in your home, total?
Displaying poll results.50912 total votes.
The rule on staying alive as a forecaster is to give 'em a number or give 'em a date, but never give 'em both at once. -- Jane Bryant Quinn
The rule on staying alive as a forecaster is to give 'em a number or give 'em a date, but never give 'em both at once. -- Jane Bryant Quinn
more than 20 is too many? (Score:5, Interesting)
available answers (i know, not supposed to complain) assumes that having more than 20 is too many.
I humbly submit you can never have too many.
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Not really. I have at least one too many - in the form of a boxed 2001-vintage Athlon XP that I'll probably never use.
Re:more than 20 is too many? (Score:5, Informative)
How can anyone be confident that they have 20 or fewer? Between obvious things like computers (typically two or more processors each) and smartphones, there are processors in DVRs, DVD players, MP3 players, notsosmartphones, radios, answering machines, digital picture frames, microwave ovens, clocks, thermostats, and yes probably even some toasters.
I counted almost 30 with no "computers" (Score:5, Informative)
Come on folks. EVERY device in your house that has a LED or liquid crystal display has at least one microprocessor in it; probably more than one. Here are a few things to consider in your count:
cell phone(s)
wireless phone (has two; one in the base, one in the handset)
answering machine
microwave oven
DVD player
VCR (some of still have one)
CD player (and even one of these)
MP3 player
Digital clock radio
stove
dishwasher
digital thermometer
bread machine
wrist watch
GPS (we have two)
TV(s)
cable box or satellite dish
calculator(s)
digital camera(s)
Camcorders
programmable thermostat
and, if you have an attached garage (which I assume means its part of your home), your cars have a whole bunch of microprocessors if they're not considered a "classic."
Now go back and count again.
Cheers,
Dave
Re:more than 20 is too many? (Score:5, Insightful)
are we talking about cores or CPUs?
i think this test will be somewhat limited by how many trivial devices the voter can remember.
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oshi i didn't count GPUs and routers.
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Don't forget fridges, clocks and microwave ovens either. My most recent two (or more?) are in my brand new thermostat and combination boiler. You've got to be living in a cave if you're in the first two categories.
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Coffee makers, dishwashers, clothes washer and dryer, stereos, etc., etc., etc. I'd say you're probably living in a cave if you don't have at least 20, these days. I'm up to at least 6 without leaving the kitchen: refrigerator, microwave, oven, coffee maker, dishwasher, bread maker.
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What? Why would you need a processor in a refrigerator?
How else are you going to implement a thermostat? Bimetallic strip maybe - but have you seen how much those cost?
It's cheaper to use a PIC 12Fxxx 8-pin microcontroller to flash an LED than it is to use a 555 timer.
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Do we include microcontrollers which have a CPU code as well as peripherals on one chip? If so then the average LCD TV probably has at least 5.
Re:more than 20 is too many? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:more than 20 is too many? (Score:5, Funny)
Do we include the iphone carried by the kid that I am yelling at while he walks on my lawn?
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This really is a ridiculous poll. Almost every device, even toasters, have microprocessors nowadays. Nearly everyone has 20+ in their home.
A better question might be: How many working(keyword) computers do you have? In my case, it would be 11.
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Then you get into another definition of how to define "working computer". My cable is also a DVR, and has a function that lets my pay my cable bill, so it's obviously got some fairly capable hardware - but it doesn't let me browse the internet or write programs to run on it's hardware, so is it a "working computer"? What about my learning remote with LCD screen and macro functions? That's got some limited programmability, so is it a working computer?
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My microwave has some, mp3 players, routers, old server gathering dust, etc.
I am sure I have more than 20, but beyond that who cares?
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From the low numbers I figured that they only meant something approaching a general-purpose CPU rather than a microcontroller/DSP/GPU. I'm still above 20 though.
What is meant by Home exactly (Score:2, Insightful)
I counted the garage. There are at least four in there.
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Add all the other storage facilities around you that you can access...
But don't forget laundry machines and similar items.
B.t.w. I do have a few slide rulers too.
More than 20 is too many? (Score:5, Insightful)
With nearly every electronic product one purchases these days being chock full of processors, I had to pick "too many". But really, is it?
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Agreed.
2 cell phones, 1 microwave, speakers, DSL modem, wireless router, 4 computers (11 cores total, plus each one has a PMU with a microprocessor, and maybe others as well), various digital timers/watches/clocks, a car (which probably has on the order of dozens...), 2 bicycle odometers, a digital multimeter... The list goes on and on.
One could make an argument about a distinction between microprocessors and microcontrollers, I suppose. But there's not a particularly clear distinction, considering that a l
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I picked "11-20", but I suspect I low-balled the count by ignoring, among other things, the car (!), the programmable thermostats, the pocket calculators, the digital clocks, the CRT monitor and TVs, and probably a few miscellaneous bits that I simply forgot. "Too many" would only apply if some of the processors would be better replaced with simpler controls or simply eliminated altogether, and I can't point to any that fit that criterion at the moment. Well, with a few exceptions that are only being retain
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[tt]
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With nearly every electronic product one purchases these days being chock full of processors, I had to pick "too many". But really, is it?
Traditionally, a microprocessor is a "multi-programmable" device that can be loaded with general purpose software, whereas a microcontroller is, by definition, a single-purpose chip. They may possess similar capabilities w.r.t. processing power, interfaces, etc. So the distinction is the limitation as to how the device can be used. Can it run a word processor, a spreadsheet, etc., without that application being pre-loaded? So an engine controller in a car, while it can be updated, is a micro-controller. The
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Traditionally, a microprocessor is a "multi-programmable" device that can be loaded with general purpose software, whereas a microcontroller is, by definition, a single-purpose chip.
This is so completely wrong it's probably not worth my time to correct it, but here goes.
To put it simply a microcontroller is a microprocessor with additional on die features, usually including memory (RAM and ROM), I/O and clock generator. All microcontrollers are programmable, and many are re-programmable, but this depends on the form of memory used for the ROM (ROM, EPROM, Flash, etc.). The PIC family of microcontrollers by Microchip, is one of the, if not the, most common microcontrollers on the mar
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1-2 per computer? Ok my i7 technically has 4 processing units, but how would you count the video cards? They are microprocessors, huge fucking stream ones at that. If you count discrete cores as one per, then the pair of vid cards in my pc has hundreds of stream units between them.
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microcontrollers still have turing complete execution logic, they are as much a processor as the intel 8008 or your garden variety core 2 duo
and even if they dont count:
6 PCs (not counting video cards or multi-cores)
4 handheld gaming devices
3 smartphones (only counting android/iphone)
1 ipod touch
4 laptops (two of which are work)
8 gaming consoles of varying vintage
Puts me at 26, and i am probably missing a few too. if we can count microcontrollers too, i wouldnt be surprised to be over 100
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Next time don't buy the windows with the "Windows CE" sticker on the front
More than 20... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:More than 20... (Score:4, Informative)
There's at least a dozen microprocessors and microcontrollers in the garage/workshop and a couple more in the garden shed, but none yet in the greenhouse. Our technical room alone has about a dozen of the things (server + 5 disks, router, optical switch, 2 ethernet switches, UPS), and there's another dozen-ish in the utility room and kitchen (laundry, sewing machine, heat pump, water heater, ventilation systems, 3 freezers, refrigerator, 2 microwaves, stove). The house also has various digital clocks, thermostats, and wired & wireless sensors. Then there are the actual PCs, of which we have 4 right now, each containing multiple microprocessors (CPU, GPU) and microcontrollers (network, firewire, USB), with 1 printer, 1 multi-function network printer/scanner, another ethernet switch and another 2 UPS boxes. Ah, nearly forgot the living room with its PS3, IPTV digibox, "smart" TV, DVD player, VHS player, and yet another ethernet switch. There are also several mobile devices (6 cellphones, 4 MP3 players, 2 video/MP3 players). I have no idea how many microprocessors are in the cars, but they both have SatNav systems.
Depending how you count, it's getting close to 100 even without the cars' built-in devices.
Adding machines (Score:2)
Multiple slide rules AND a couple of mechanical adding machines, the portable type. THOSE can overflow.
Forgot the log tables (Score:2)
Oops. Forgot the handful of books with log tables in them.
"Too many?" - dump the furnace! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:"Too many?" - dump the furnace! (Score:4, Funny)
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You should use Cisco gear then.
Not sure how it works for various values of "water" (content of water can greatly effect conductivity) but, at a previous job.... we had a data closet in a basement that flooded. The network engineers came in to find it.... completely underwater... but still functioning and passing packets!
If I remember the story right, one of the admins nearly had a heart attack as the other one jumped into the water and pulled the power from the device. Can't say as I remember what model of
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And my washing machine and dishwasher as well. I find it amusing that microprocessors (and multilayer circuit boards) have replaced clock-motor driven camshafts actuating Cherry switches.
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Hard to tell any more (Score:2)
I think our toothbrushes even have brains.
Our microwave
5 computers
Some of the monitors, if not all
Ipods, 5 of them
TV, cable box, Wii, DVD player
Heck, even 2 of our sewing machines are computer controlled (both are pretty old too)
Many more I'm sure
Re:Hard to tell any more (Score:5, Funny)
You're pushing it in and up too far.
What counts as a microprocessor? (Score:2)
The chip in my iPod Touch?
The chip in my cell phone? My wife's? My old Palm Treo that I never use? The old cell phones we no longer use?
The chip in the radar? (Oh yeah, I live on a boat.)
The chip in the microwave?
The chip in my multi-function printer?
"Microprocessor" is a very generic term. Heck my 1992 Subaru has several microprocessors in it! Where do you draw the line?
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I decided to vote as if only "regular" CPUs counted. Still came to more than a dozen though.
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So your computer has at least two - the CPU and the video card. Do any of the north bridge, south bridge, NIC, wifi card, and disk controller have them?
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Don't forget your keyboard. Since the original 4.77 mhz pc days they've included an intel 8042 controller, or now an emulated controller.
And most mice have one to speak USB. It takes more than a transistor or two to speak the full USB protocol.
How your disk drive rotation motor speed is controlled is probably only known by some guy in China but I would not be surprised to find out there is a PID style microcontroller involved.
It is highly unlikely your NIC has a microcontroller, unless its connected via U
Probably Difficult to Count (Score:2)
There are microprocessors probably in just about everything:
computer
cellphone
remote control
tv
microwave
light bulbs
monitor
air conditioner
dsl modem
router
dsl router
model
etc...
i will assume nowadays that all electric consuming equipment will have a microprocessor in it.
at the same time, these equipment may have multiple microprocessors in it as well.
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router
dsl router
model
etc...
Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!
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oops... hahaha
thinking of modem
but i guess my subconscious was thinking of another. :))
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router dsl router model etc...
Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!
Most model's CPUs are one bit short of a byte
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It's simpler if you think of it as two nibbles.
Hundreds... time to do inventory (Score:4, Interesting)
20 is too many??? (Score:3, Informative)
Anyone who answers LESS than 20 is either very spartan or not counting very carefully. Practically all kitchen appliances, any LCD monitor, any TV, every mobile phone, portable music players, media players, game consoles...all times however many chips are actually in the thing!
I easily got to 25...without even counting the desktop/laptop computers!
Where to look? (Score:2)
From rather more obvious to less so:
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are chips and processors the same thing?
This poll sucks (Score:5, Insightful)
You might as well ask how many springs there are in my house..
Re:This poll sucks (Score:5, Funny)
So.... how many springs are there in your house?
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A wireless mouse alone... (Score:2, Interesting)
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These days if I need a NAND gate or something I just add another microcontroller.
About 6 too few :-( (Score:4, Insightful)
I threw out a handful of Intel 4004 chips which I later discovered were fetching quite a bit as collectors item. These were the gold and white items as well that looked pretty cool by modern standards and were most valuable.
It was the era of $2 microcontrollers and I tossed them from my parts drawers at the stage I knew I'd never realistically use them for anything practical.
Poll is to vague - Define "microprocessor" (Score:5, Informative)
so I didn't come up with a number in the hundreds, I chose to assume that:
I came up with the following list:
There may be others, but this is what I'm aware of off the top of my head.
Even by this admittedly conservative definition, I came out in the "too many" camp.
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I come up with this:
And the broken stuff:
I voted 11-20.
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And add "HP-28C" programmable calculator to the working category, and another mini-itx to the broken list...
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CPUs must be functional and ready to run. (The old AMD K6-2 chip in a drawer doesn't count, as it's not even complete)
I came up to 26, without counting the various routers/switches (oh, and the network streamer, TV STB), and this line reminded my of the 3 CPUs i have in a box in the atic...
(and i actually forgot one more gaming handheld... gaaaah)
I guess i am well above 30 just counting CPUs (not even GPUs / microcontrollers)
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Exactly. I collect classic game and computer systems, so in addition to the usual modern stuff with microprocessores in them, I have:
1) Atari 2600
2) Atari 5200
3) Atari 7800
4) Atari Lynx
5) Atari Jaguar
6) Magnavox Odyssey^2
7) Mattel Intellivision
8) ColecoVision
9) Atari 1200XL (8-bit computer)
A) NES
B) SNES
C) N64
D) Sega Genesis
E) NEC Turbografx-16
F) GCC Vectrex
And I have multiples of most of the above, stored away in the basement.
So I have way, way more than 20 microprocessors in my home, once you add in the T
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Fortunately you're compensating all that high tech gear with a really old fashioned tube TV, fridge, oven, heating system, etc.
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Why can't the microprocessor in your microwave run "new software"?
If there is one in there (probably are a few) then, it is really just a matter of flashing the memory, or however the particular microcontroller is setup to take its instructions (some can be reprogrammed via a serial connection)
Now, this MC is going to be hooked up to some specialized hardware, and it may not be useful to put new code of any kind into it, however, there is no reason it couldn't be done.
Actually, I was surprised to learn rece
Nearly all of your votes will be wrong (Score:2)
No idea how many (Score:2)
Even the Nikon 501 camera I don't use any more has six microcontrollers. I have five AVR microcontrollers in various projects. Six actual working computers. A network switch which presumably runs linux. Various other switches. A microwave oven. A TV and DVD player. Four actual working cameras. An iPod, A DS, a Wii.
Also one slide rule at home and another at work.
Appliances have microprocessors these days (Score:2)
Microcontrollers, anyway, and so do digital clocks, the programmable thermostat, and probably the furnace.
Between them and my actual computers, video game consoles, and Kindle, that's easily "too many" for the poll's purposes.
Microprocessors? You're kidding, right? (Score:2)
I can count way more than 20 just in this room. Every cell phone, every mouse, every keyboard, every monitor, my nifty Nixie-tube clock, the big LCD wall clock, both of my ham radio transceivers (at least 2 each), the phone, the FAX/printer, my Morse keyers, the cheap little stereo, hell - even the wireless headphones have at least two, one in the USB dongle and one in the headphones themselves. I'll even skimp and not count the couple hundred I have still in tubes, waiting to be put into the kits I devel
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Amen to that. I count more than 20 sitting here on my desk.
Not "but" (Score:2)
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Zero AND multiple slide rules?
Tons (Score:2)
It seems that everything I own plugs in. A modern car can have dozens of them, even a 10 year old car has several particularly if you have a radio or CD player. Every appliance these days has at least one. There's ones in my washer and dryer, in my furnace, in my water softener, in the thermostat, in the scale in the bathroom, in the electric toothbrush, in my razor (I don't shave acoustic), the list is HUGE.
Then there's the high performance ones in computers of which there are potentially more than just
I have no idea (Score:2)
Pretty much anything that uses electricity might have a microprocessor in it. I think the toaster probably doesn't have one, but I haven't actually opened it up and looked.
Disregarding the tubes of PICs (Score:2)
However, in terms of processors embedded in other things, lessee:
3 printers, 4 laptops, 5 desktops (not all switched on), every one of the 20 or so disk drives,
4 monitors, 3 phones, network hub, ADSL, 5 keyboards, I guess there's a processor in each of the 7 or 8 mouses.
The TVs must have a couple each, the SKY box, the DVD players, the networked disk, video camera, digital camera *4
the
20 is a very modest life. How are you on /.? (Score:2)
Microprocessor: integrated circuit semiconductor chip that performs the bulk of the processing and controls the parts of a system.
As far as I know, a modern household has at least 20 of those. Lets see... I have my: furnace, thermostats, oven, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, fridge, freezer, security system, carbon monoxide detector, smoke alarms, alarm clock, coffee maker, stereo, TV, audio DAC, Bluray, game console, volt meter, two desktops, laptop, computer monitor, printer, computer sp
Obligatory missing option (Score:2)
Too many AND (Score:2)
some slide rules.
/. is very dissapointing (Score:2)
A chip is NOT a processor.
A disappointing amount of posters done's seem to know that.
Re:Client Table (Score:5, Funny)
What *doesn't* have a processor these days?
me and you, fortunately.
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What *doesn't* have a processor these days?
me and you, fortunately.
Speak for yourself.
Is that you Data?
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You *are* a food processor. And that's completely unrelated to the small black rectangular things.
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You *are* a food processor. And that's completely unrelated to the small black rectangular things.
Nothing "micro" about me, though....
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I think your food processor only counts if it's very small.
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A bank smartcard would certainly contain a microcontroller. It has has RAM/ROM/CPU. It just requires external power via the ISO contact plate. The CPU is hardened to prevent a lot of attacks such as DPA/Timing etc. It's a 8 bit CPU most of the time but it's very power hungry due to the extra security built into the CPU.
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it's very power hungry due to the extra security built into the CPU.
Its very power hungry because you cannot make reliable electrical connections without pulling a couple mA or so thru. Look up the term "sealing current" as applies to telco outside plant. Or having to shove a couple mA thru signal relay contacts occasionally to clean the contacts after lots of dry switching use.
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Is there actually a specific difference?
Almost exclusively marketing. No technical difference, no equation you can solve to prove the answer.
Often, products marketed as microcontrollers have lots of specialized hardware interfaces on board and no/limited external access to system bus. However the majority of the market is, and probably always will be, the exceptions.
Is a pic10f222 a MC even though it has practically nothing on chip?
Is a 68hc11 a MC even though it provides external access to the system address and data bus?
How is a picoblaze on
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Unlikely. It would only be used to complain about the sex.
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Nobody had ANY!
(counts backwards with fingers and toes)
Thats only 1986. That year we had two computers in the house (a Z80 machine running CP/M and a single board 6502 system). I had just bought my Nikon 501 which has something like six microcontrollers. We also had a couple of programmable calculators which qualify as computers in my book.
Re:Who doesn't have 20+ (Score:5, Interesting)
Computers, scanners, printers, network switches/routers, cameras, cell phones, TVs, game systems, heating/cooling system, automobiles, lots of tools and small appliances too
Add to that:
And finally, every single book, DVD, or product that has a deactivated RFID security chip.
If the answers are between 0 and 20, then a better question would be "How many microprocessors are on you personally right now"?
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Even 20 years ago, a newer 16/32 bit machine might have used a number of microprocessors including some older 8-bit CPUs as dedicated IO controllers.
I think in general it is true that "there are more microprocessors in your house than you think there is".
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