| Yes, almost everything now is reprogrammable, because flash memory overtook PROM
ages ago, and manufacturers are rightly scared of making buggy products that
can't be fixed by reprogramming. Also with flash, the final firmware only needs
to be ready at the time of production, with no lead time in the silicon foundry,
or tooling costs. All but the most trivial things have a JTAG header, usually
a zero-cost one consisting of pads on the PCB which may be contacted by sprung
probes. So anyone who relies on the use of PROM or core to confer
patentability is confining themselves to building obsolete, expensive products
which will fail to compete in the marketplace. There are still several very
specialised uses for PROM and core, but these are far from mass market, or from
public view, and unlikely to be patented. I can't tell you what these are,
although some of you will know or guess, but I can tell you that in both cases
the actual memory capacity is modest by the standards we are used to, and there
is a major real machine present, not just software. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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