Yes!

> Since the introduction of the 555 by Signetics in 1972, this integrated circuit has outsold all other IC types by a wide margin, with over 1 billion units sold worldwide in 2003 alone.

http://www.semiconductormuseum.com/Transistors/LectureHall/C...

It’s what we used as a starting point in 2005. It's the "Hello World" of electronics, and seemingly a commonality across the world. I love this IC because it is so simple, predictable, and understandable; the perfect jumping off point to learn electronics.

I would like to challenge that!

Consider something like the 741. In fact, let's consider the single opamp IC family against the 555 family (including 556 and the rest).

I bet you 55x is nowhere as popular as those.

The 741 is obsolete... almost nobody uses it anymore. In terms of a jellybean opamp, I would guess that the LM358 and friends (LM321, LM324, and modernized rail-to-rail CMOS descendants) are quite a bit more popular.

The bipolar LM358 family is also pretty much obsolete by modern standards (plenty of nicer rail-to-rail amps available), but you can't beat them on price since they've been second sourced by practically every analog company in the industry.

Honestly, if it's between the 741 and 555, let's just call it a draw and have a drink together. Shall we?

Skol!

Part of the reason it's historically sold so well is that its particular combination of features is difficult to get economically in other ways. If you want, say, a blinking LED without a microcontroller, it can't really be done without a 555 except at severe penalty in cost, complexity, or both. Any analog solution involving an op-amp, for example, has to deal with the fact that an op-amp is usually more expensive than a 555!

(Example: TI's cheapest 555 is the NE555 in TSSOP-8 package at $0.05, and their cheapest op-amp is the LM321LV in SOT23-5 package at $0.04, actually slightly cheaper than I remember last time I went looking for the cheapest op-amp money could buy. But the op-amp will require more supporting components, increasing total cost.)

That's not true for voltage regulators: there are many other parts that do what a 7805 does and many ways to build that function, some of which can sometimes end up cheaper.

Of course, the previous caveat of "without a microcontroller" is quickly becoming a concern of the past, and, accordingly, the 555 isn't designed in nearly as often as it was even in 2003.

Well, you do need a number of discrete components in both cases.

Sometimes it's just cheaper to use a microcontroller. Specially when they are this cheap:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1132-the-3-cent-m...

nowadays it's usually cheaper to use a microcontroller. That actually wasn't true if you go back further than a decade. 555s heydey was when MCs were relatively expensive.

The 555 had a long run before the micro controllers got as cheap. I think that counts toward it's legacy (and numbers of units sold).

I was getting the impression this IC was used a lot as a rudimentary analog-to-digital converter, by converting voltages to pretty much PWM.

You don’t need a 7805 in a switching power supply. You do need a 555. Switching power supplies are in everything.

You don't _need_ 555 for that.

The last one I opened had two lm358 dual opamps but no 555.

And nowadays we have dedicated ICs for that kind of things with much better safety and efficiency.