I was wondering about using multiple atmega chips, say I make something on the board but then I finish experimenting and want to make an actual usable something, could I take out the atmega and put it the object (whatever it would be) and pop in a new one for the next project? or would I have to buy another board to use a second at the same time?
and I assume I can put the first chip back in and reprogram it or update it as well.
Yes that is possible. To use the Atmega 168 processor on it's own you would need a few supporting components, the 16Mhz clocking crystal, a couple of capacitors. and a 5 V power supply of course.
Check this :
MikMo
could I use new blank atmega168s? pr do I HAVE to buy the preprogrammed ones?
You can buy blank ones, as long as you have a programmer (such as Lady Ada's excellent USBtinyISP) with which to apply the Arduino bootloader.
So if I wanted to use a blank one, I would have to put it into the socket on the arduino board, then use the USBtinyISP programmer to get the "arduino bootloader" onto it, then from there I can program it as if it was the original correct?
yes, that is correct!
Okay, thanks you guys so much!