erik malund wrote:
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The "universal board" is an unattainable goal, a simple development board, possibly with a lot of solder pad area is reasonable.


Amen. I work with customers every day that are developing new applications and are looking to use one of our standard microcontroller products (see at http://www.BlueEarthLLC.com/mqselect.htm ). It seems like everyone wants to buy a generic universal controller board, program it, wire it up, and be done. However, many projects have one or more unique requirements that make the standard controller board a less-then-perfect solution.

Also, a fairly small percentage of projects that turn in to moderate or better volume production end up using the same generic standard microcontroller in the final product. Ironically, two of the controller boards currently having the highest OEM volume were designed over 10 years ago and include (gasp!) an 82C55...