Basic Stamp phaseout?

[pbronson]

I have heard that the Stamp, in the next few years, will be phased out and the Propeller will essentially take its place. Is there any truth to this info? And if so, since I am just starting out, should I skip the Stamp and concentrate on the Propeller?

Thanks for the info.

Pete

[livinlowe]

I have heard that the Stamp, in the next few years, will be phased out and the Propeller will essentially take its place. Is there any truth to this info? And if so, since I am just starting out, should I skip the Stamp and concentrate on the Propeller?

Thanks for the info.

Pete

Not the stamp. The Prop-1 and Prop-2 have not been discontinued, and I imagine will be around for a long while. The SX chip, which is incorporated into the Prop-SX has gone End of Life, due to circumstances beyond anyones control. EFX-TEK had a chance (I think) to buy as many SX chips as they thought they would need at that time, so it may be around for a long time.

My PERSONAL feelings are that EFX-TEk will incorporate the Propeller chip into a control board and make a Prop......Prop?!  ??? Since you can do so many cool things with it.

[pbronson]

I heard this from someone at Parallax so I thought I would ask as I had not heard it before. Do you think my time would be better spent learning the Propeller? I am fairly limited in the time available.

Thanks = Pete

[JonnyMac]

I've had a 16+ year relationship with Parallax and have never heard this mentioned.  The only "Stamps" in danger are the units that use the SX chip (BS2sx, BS2e, BS2p, etc.) -- neither of which are used in our products.  Parallax bout a 10-year supply of SX chips for their own purposes (not for resale) so that those products will continue to live several years.

If the BS1 or BS2 ever are going to be phased out -- which is not likely at all -- we will get a lot of warning.

Obviously, their putting a lot of effort into the Propeller as they created it and have control (unlike the situation with the SX which they could not control).  We use the Propeller in the AP-16+ and you'll see it in other new products shortly.  First up is the HC-8.  While designed to be a replacement for the DC-16, the HC-8 is easily hackable and we're going to show our customers how to take those eight brains and do all kinds of crazy cool things.

[pbronson]

Thanks Jon,

Do you think that since my avail time is limited, it would be better for me to start my learning effort with the Propeller or first learn to program with the Stamp and then progress to the Propeller? I have little to no programming experience.

Thanks

Pete

[bsnut]

I agree with Shawn on this one. What, I will do if, I was you is to learn PBasic on the Prop1 (Basic Stamp1 core processor) and Prop2 (Basic Stamp2) first. Once you learn it on those processors, then you can move onto Spin, which is similar to PBasic, but more advanced.

I don't think that Basic Stamps are going anywhere any time soon.

[JonnyMac]

The key is to start.  A lot of people wait around for the "perfect" processor and never learn anything.  Programming is programming, and embedded programming experience, wherever you get it, is a good thing.

[pbronson]

Thanks all. I will get to work.

Pete