Whilst searching for the application note on using the native UART from the LogoChip (which doesn’t seem to exist), I ran across this discussion board about microcontroller programming from OS X.
What caught my eye was the mention of the Atmel/AVR Butterfly. John Harrison has been touting the Atmel micros to me, but mainly mentioning the GNU toolchain. The Butterfly is an evaluation board with an Atmel micro on it, a 100-segment LCD, mini-joystick, light and temperature sensors, speaker, RS-232 level converter, and headers to access all the ports.
But wait–there’s more! No separate device programmer necessary–it can download code through its RS-232 port! Now how much would you pay?
But wait–there’s more! All that comes on a board the size of . . . a table? Nope, smaller! A breadbox? Nope, smaller yet! A nametag! That’s right, folks; all that functionality on a board small enough to clip onto your shirt!
Now how much would you pay?!! $80? $130? Nope, less than that.
$20.
Twenty. Freakin’. Dollars.
Available from Digi-Key.