Absolutely. On these devices the OS or even RTOS's for them are just the basis for further coding to accomplish this different conception of value added functio

Absolutely. On these devices the OS or even RTOS's for them are just the basis for further coding to accomplish this different conception of value added functionality. But unlike, say an iOS app, which leverages an underlying software platform ( running even on outstanding hardware ), these hardware efforts leverage the power of the devices and their peripherals. It's all back to C ( or maybe assembler or C++ ), and the code is more and more a facilitator for the hardware's value. I should make myself clear that I'm thinking about hardware solutions that differ from current consumer products in the main, such as general purpose computers, or tablets and phones and so on. But you're absolutely right that anything programmable requires software.