Arduinos and the next microprocessor revolution

One of the exciting new "bricks" that I've been playing with recently is the Arduino microcontroller board. The Arduino is described as "an open source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments."

Arduino boards come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but what they all hold in common is a relatively low cost of entry and accessibility to a wide range of users, including those who may not have previously considered programming and microprocessors a particular area of interest. A friend of mine called Arduino "the hardware version of MySpace," a very apt description. MySpace dramatically lowered the barrier to creating your own web page and gave everyone the opportunity to be a webmaster. In similar fashion, Arduino has significantly lowered the barrier to electronics and basic computing, giving everyone the chance to be a programmer and electrical engineer.

While researching about Arduino and the culture that has formed around these devices I see many parallels to the microprocessor revolution of the '70s and '80s. The early history of microprocessors was marked by scores of hobbyists simply tinkering with early microprocessors like the Intel 4004 and 8080 and making them do new and wonderful things. The accessibility of Arduino has similarly led to an extensive array of students, educators, and tinkerers in general playing around with the devices and documenting the neat projects that they have created. The open source nature of Arduino supports a culture of sharing among the participants, with Arduino code "sketches" being passed around and modified and incorporated into any number of projects. We may very well be participating in the next great microprocessor revolution.