Embedded systems are becoming quite popular.
As a matter of fact the amount of embedded systems are ever increasing.
Thin clients have embedded. Many of the new cheap laptops now have embedded operating systems.
Other embedded devices are all around us, phones, DVRs, your washer and dryer...
As chips become more complicated, more advanced, as chip technology continues to increase and when we have 30nm capabilities instead of 45nm, when we have the ability to pack 250GB solid state into the space it took to do 64GB before, or more memory and flash BIOS components in systems, then I'm sure embedded systems will stay.
For more information:
<a href="http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=Embedded+Systems&form=">Embedded Systems</a>
-Schmidtw