I find it exceedingly interesting as well. Mainly because it, as you said, is taken for granted. When you tell someone you are or want to be a programmer, they inmediately think PC, of course that's natural, but no one ever considers chips or electronic appliances, or even the parts that make the PC be a PC.
To me it's one of the great things i could do after i learn how to do it. Programming BIOS's or Discman's, you don't meet many of the people that actually do that, but it's obvious that there has to be quite alot of them.
How'd you get into that line of work anyways?
adios,
biterman.
