Idea for a project: Embedded device designed for standalone programming

[andrebarata]

Hello guys,

Here's a suggestion for an open source hardware project:

It seems that in our days all consumer embedded systems are designed to be programmed from a PC.
Why cant we develop a handheld embedded device designed for being programmable from within, as standalone?

I know we can use a regular laptop for software development, but it just doesn't seem the same as some portable PC's back in the 80's like the ZX Spectrum for example:


So here's the idea... a cheap embedded system... designed with a open source IDE/compiler to build executables for the machine itself, probably a small querty keyboard in it, some sort of display or just vga/hdmi output.

and why not a expansion socket, designed to be completely open and versatile like the arduino IOs.

What do you think?

André Barata

[NiHaoMike]

What price range are you looking at? Android tablets start at about $100.