Digital data is easy to store, process or transmit. Digital circuits are easier to design, test and produce. The development in VLSI technology and microprocessor products have expanded the horizons of electronics and information processing dramatically. The applications now include the expensive data processing on one end of the spectrum and low cost controllers for sensor and actuators on the other end. Since most of the natural phenomenon are analog, data conversion devices are used to couple these to the electronic systems. Till the advent of low cost MPU's and MCU's, the cost of electronic processors/Controllers inhibited their use in low cost high volume applications. Consequently the data conversion products were produced in low volumes and hence at high cost. Typically these products required considerable experience/knowledge and tweaking by the user. These factors have now become a major hindrance in the further expansion of electronic applications. As a result, considerable effort is being devoted by the semiconductor vendors to remove these hurdles. This paper examines some of these issues and discusses a product that is a solution for low cost applications.