>
> This is a philosophical post...
>
> As I pass through the many phases of emotions while PICing (mostly elation
> and depression), I tend to look at alternatives when depressed.
>
> Like:
>
> Other microcontroller companies - do they have better tools, third-party
> support, etc.
> PIC derivatives - BasicStamp, etc.
> Other languages - C, Basic, etc.
>
> So, questions begin:
>
> Why wouldn't I go with, let's say, Motorola?
> Does anybody use BasicStamps (or other high-level interpreted chips) in
> commercial products?
>
> One of the biggest reasons I went the PIC route is the massive external
> support. Motorola, Intel, TI, etc. seem to have more of a "corporate"
> catering. In other words, I didn't get the sense as an individual with a
> dream, I would get some help from the Motorola community (could be wrong
> though...). It also helped that my local Microchip rep was much more
> friendly than the Motorola one.
>
> We'll keep the language question out of this since there are volumes of
> PICMail on the subject already.