4029 CMOS Answered

.  +1.  http://www.digchip.com/distributors/parts/4/from_4029B_to_4037042AC.php*


^{*Just an example, not a recommendation.}

I guess that some stockist or other has said they aren't going to carry it. I doubt that discrete logic will ever die, its too useful.

Steve

Well, _someday_ programmable gate arrays will be so ubiquitous that it's cheaper to sell them, and macros for programming them, to the hobbyists.

But for now -- yeah. I can see one manufacturer deciding a given chip wasn't worth producing, but that means more market for the others. I can certainly see one supplier deciding it wasn't worth stocking, but again that may just mean you have to shop around a bit more... and the folks who stock _everything_ are more likely to get my order when I need a random assortment of stuff, since it's easier for me to place a single order than to buy stuff from multiple places.

Show me a CPLD that can run on what CMOS can, and I'll beat a path to your door...

Hm. My degree claims I'm an EE, and my first job *was* circuit design for a supercomputer (never marketed, alas, partly because it was based on bipolar just at the time when CMOS was taking over)... I doubt I've got the chops for it, but that's an interesting challenge.

From my acquaintance with 'em, these things have been designed for rip-roaring speed, and not economy. CMOS is lovely stuff for efficiency.

One of CMOS technology's huge advantages is that it can be run for either efficiency *or* speed depending on how much work you want to put into cooling it.

Its good stuff for sure.