Dictionary.net

An archetypal dumb embedded-systems application, liketoaster (which superseded it). During one period (1983--84)in the deliberations of ANSI X3J11 (the C standardisationcommittee) this was the canonical example of a really stupid,memory-limited computation environment. "You can't require"printf(3)" to be part of the default run-time library - whatif you're targeting an elevator controller?" Elevatorcontrollers became important rhetorical weapons on both sidesof several holy wars.