*I know this guy's manifesto sounds crazy, but you're probably broke anyway,
right? What else are you gonna do? It's a Depression. This is one of
the few areas of innovation that's not bailed-out, underwater or
on fire.
http://www.urbanhonking.com/ideasfordozens/2009/05/why_the_arduino_matters.html
"Today, the world of physical computing closely resembles the personal computer industry circa 1975. We've been around for a few years struggling around the edges with tools and products that were designed, priced, and packaged for serious industry, but we haven't made any money and we haven't moved the world. That's about to change.
"Recently, our Altair arrived. It's called the Arduino. This is 2009 so instead of being built by two engineers in Albuquerque, it was built by an open source international cabal of programmers and professors.
"A lot of people complain that it's underpowered and overpriced (even though it only costs $8.64 in 1975 dollars). But you don't need special hardware to program it. It lets you do all the basic tasks with just a line or two of perfectly comprehensible code. And there's a thriving community of people busily using it to do all the useless, fun, creative things they'd always dreamed of if only they could get their hands on a computer that could sense and control the world around it. They're using it to teach houseplants to call for help if they need watering. And they're using it to play music on glasses of water.
"If the Arduino is the Altair of physical computing then what will be its VisiCalc? What will be the killer application that makes the physical computer of the future a necessity for business. If the Arduino is the Altair, what will physical computing's Mac look like? I don't think anyone today knows the answers to these questions.
"But the answers are coming. In the next few years, physical computing has as much of a shot at changing the world as technologies ever get. And this is the time to get involved. Unlike the web, personal computer, and green energy industries, physical computing is a space where two guys in a garage can come along and invent something that will touch billions of people around the world without anyone else's permission...."
