True, and I think that sitting back and thinking... we will come up with such applications. These aren't hard rules. It's a matter of extent though, not absolu

True, and I think that sitting back and thinking... we will come up with such applications. These aren't hard rules. It's a matter of extent though, not absolutes. Hobby, experimental & light-commercial applications do not often need millions of units. If they don't, the difference between a $1 & $10 controller doesn't matter in the way the difference between $10 & $100 matters... in more cases than not. Other considerations (eg the dev already knows the more expensive platform, maturity, etc.) can easily override High-volume swarm applications could change the reality. You need a nexus between low end and high volume. Swarms might be that. These aren't that common though, and "high volume and cheap" is usually a large company thing. IE, if you browse around kickstarter, most microcontroller applications fit into OP's scenario. The cost of the microcontroller is not that operative. There are undoubtedly some exceptions.