Future of 32 bit time_t?

[Daniel Franke]

On 3/13/17, Eric S. Raymond <esr at thyrsus.com> wrote:
> Daniel Franke <dfoxfranke at gmail.com>:
>> I question this prediction. I expect there to be plenty of
>> *newly-manufactured* 32-bit embedded systems for the indefinite
>> future, well beyond 2038. Nobody needs or wants 64 bits to control a
>> coffee pot.
>
> Yes, but how many of those will want NTP?

I woefully predict that most of them will. IoT is, sadly, not looking
like a fad.

> Also, it may be the case that nobody needs 64 bits to control a coffee pot,
> but we've already seen at least two iterations of "grossly overpowered
> chips replace cheaper adequate performers in embedded" because in the
> whole-system cost of devices the slight increase in BOM turns out not to
> reliably dominate the benefits of having *one* target and *one* toolkit
> and *one* set of development engineers - rather than two.

In some applications, sure. In others, power consumption actually matters.