Dear reader,

to me, starting with microcontrollers meant starting with pics.

When I hear 'PIC' I immediately associate it with hobbiist projects,
creative setups made of wood or being connected to standard
boxes and producing only prototypes. Nothing that ever reaches
the style(and size per functions) of an ipod or a palm(In which there
are no pics as I guess).

To be able to rewrite the microcontroller is necessary in developing
something but what about the final product that is to be sold ?

Which kinds of associations are evoked when an experienced person
sees 'microchip' on one of the boards' chips ? Amateurish or Professional ?

As I said not to talk about the missing design aspect of most setups -
Functionality is above Beauty is an unwritten law in my experience.