Sure but it depends on the requirements. We tend to use parts that are externally synchronizable (or at least fixed-frequency) and current mode is a plus. EMI is very important (to us) but even more important is to know and control where the EMI is going to occur. I agree, though, Simple Switchers are quite good for many applications. They're cheap and have few moving parts. ;-)
High quiescent current has been solved in some of the latest chips designed for battery use.
I used one of these in a solar-charged head lamp:
Two of the head lamp's four LEDs are in series with the filtered regulator output so that current used for the feedback/dimmer circuit makes them glow. The whole circuit is drawing 50 microamps when the brightness is turned down. I didn't even bother with an on/off switch.
I just designed a temperature-stable 1kHz oscillator for a battery-powered medical application that runs on 6nA (yep, that's 6 NANO-amps)!
And a 1MHz version that runs on 1.3uA ;-) ...Jim Thompson
But does it glow in the dark?
(I had glow in the dark paint ready in case glowing LEDs took too much power.)
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