It all depends. Systems like this are (IMO) great for doing proof-of-concept projects and development things where you are concentrating on other factors. Ex:

It all depends. Systems like this are (IMO) great for doing proof-of-concept projects and development things where you are concentrating on other factors. Ex: if I enable my TV remote to operate my garage door, what should I use the Mute button for... With these platforms (Arduino, BASIC stamp, etc.) you create a lot of "glue" between different devices and protocols, including getting samples from sensors, and so on without a lot of effort. The down-side, as you note, is that for many many reasons they are unsuitable to build any kind of semi-commerical product around. Going from Arduino prototype to real product is too vague of a question though. If your needs are simple, you might be able to use a handful of discrete components and 74xx series logic chips, or you might need to add in a PIC, or an Atmega chip, or whatever. But in almost every case you can put together a purpose built piece of hardware once you have your basic requirements fleshed out that is cheaper and easier to produce than a product built on top of the Arduino.