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Microcontrollers now outnumber people

Take a computer, scale its physical size down to something even smaller than the nail on your little finger, wrap it in black plastic with a dozen or four wires hanging out of it and you've got a microcontroller.

These little devices are the things that allow us to have computerised engine management systems in our cars, washing machines that don't waste water or power and automatically adapt to load-weight, pedometers, microwave ovens with inbuilt programs for various foods -- and a million other "smart" devices.

In short, the microcontroller has changed our world forever -- albeit sometimes in ways that we've already begun to take for granted.

One of the biggest manufacturers of microcontrollers is a company called MicroChip, who make the PIC brand of such devices.

Why am I telling you this?

Because last month, MicroChip announced that it had shipped its 10 billionth microcontroller device.

This means there are now almost twice as many PIC micros out there as there are people on the face of the planet.

Let's also not forget that MicroChip aren't the only company making such devices -- there are a slew of others such as FreeScale, Atmel and others who are also selling oodles of these little chips.

They are the miniature force that has changed our technology and our lives in a somewhat covert manner, working silently behind the scenes to deliver the cool features and functions you now look for in your new "smart appliance".

Let's examine that number "ten billion"...

It sounds like a lot -- but it's easy to underestimate just how big a number this is.

For example, I just measured how thick the ream of printer paper currently sitting on my desk is. It's 55mm, which makes each sheet 0.11mm thick.

Based on this, a stack of 10 billion sheets of paper would form a tower that reached an incredible 1,100Kms into the sky (unless I've stuffed up my exponents somewhere along the line).

If that stack were laid down on the ground, it would take you eleven hours to drive its length at the legal speed limit of 100kph.

Yes, 10 billion is a very big number.

Here's an exercise for readers... how many devices can you find in your home that probably contain a microcontroller or two?

How many readers actually build or program devices that are microcontroller based?

How would our lives be changed if the microcontroller suddenly ceased to exist I wonder?

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