You've mentioned using processor cores a few times now. I'll assume, perhaps wrongly, that this might be a representation of your world when it comes to using

You've mentioned using processor cores a few times now. I'll assume, perhaps wrongly, that this might be a representation of your world when it comes to using FPGA's. That is not my world at all. My applications have never had the luxury of being able to simply import an 8 bit processor core and a few peripherals and off we go into software land. Nearly everything I've done has been in two domains: real time image processing in hardware or beam-forming applications. In all cases virtually no use of canned modules could be made or justified. Sure, there's the SPI's and I2C's and a few other knick-knacks, but that's about it. In fact, most of the applications I've done would end-up with external physical embedded processors because the high-speed FPGA resources could not be spared for low speed "command and control" work. Maybe I'm living in that 0.1% you referred to? Surely there are people doing more mundane things such as motor control, glue logic or battery chargers who might benefit from wiring together a complete custom embedded system within single Spartan FPGA and life is great. I can see that being a possibility. It just hasn't been part of my reality, for better or worst.