The programming we are going to do is not like this. Instead we are going to hide our program in a device which does a job of some kind. The inputs and outputs will be electrical signals. A good example of an embedded computer is the one which sits inside your TV remote control like the Hitachi device which can be seen on the right.

It receives inputs from the various switches on the control and produces infra red pulses which mean something to the TV. (Of course there is another embedded program inside the television receiving the commands and acting on them).

Just about everything more complicated than a spoon may well end up containing serious amounts of embedded intelligence. The real power will lay with the people who are able to create the software that drives these devices.