Issue 139 February 2002
eZ Embedded Web

Start • In With the Old and the New • The Way of the Web • Turn Up the Volume • Proof is in the Booting • Cut the Fat • Better Late than Later • Sources & PDF

A little more than a year ago, I wrote, "Even though eZ80 silicon actually exists, I’d say it’s too soon to pop the bubbly. It could be a long road from a chip that wiggles in the lab to boxes of them sitting in a warehouse, and in this business, let’s just say that stuff happens," ("eZ Does It" from Circuit Cellar 124). As we’ve all seen subsequently, stuff happens indeed.

It’s a tough time for everyone, including our old pal Captain Zilog. Weak sales, shake up in management, fabrication consolidation, and retrench-ing on a variety of fronts. Yes indeed, times are tough and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon.

But so what?. When it comes to Zilog, the last time things weren’t tough was, oh let’s say, around 1979. Those were the glory days when the little chip that could, the Z80, was giving the big boys a run for their money.

Then, under the misguided tutelage of Exxon, the Z8000 got stomped in the battle for desktop supremacy between Intel and Motorola. Exxon never seemed to figure out that making chips was different than poking holes in the ground.

The first desktop UNIX systems (pioneered by Zilog) hit their twilight years even as the similar Sun boxes were rising. How about those pseudo-static RAMs that were only pseudo-sellable? The mythical Z800 chip had more false starts than transistors and never got much beyond a part number and press releases. All of this culminated in last year’s withdrawn IPO, perhaps inevitable for a company that seemingly goes public and private like a yo-yo.

Back in November 2000, I also wrote, "…if and when Zilog delivers a chip that works and a free (or low-cost) high-quality TCP/IP stack, it will definitely be worth a look." So, why don’t we do just that, starting with Photo 1.

Photo 1—Zilog delivers the goods, including a free networking protocol stack, with the eZ80 web server evaluation kit.

Yes the old Captain, bless his heart, has taken one licking after another over the years and keeps on ticking. There’s a lesson to be learned here, and maybe one more timely than ever.