> Otherwise we could stick to fixed circuits which are FAR easier and cheaper to implement and maintain.
While this is not the key point of your post, this in particular is also not the case. With even a little complexity, it quickly becomes much easier and cheaper to implement functionality in Software on a generic CPU than in fixed circuits.
For example, we often integrate simple CPU in products that otherwise are fixed circuits, just to perform single functions as they would be too resource intensive and hard to verify. The CPU then becomes a slave to the surrounding circuit.
While this is not the key point of your post, this in particular is also not the case. With even a little complexity, it quickly becomes much easier and cheaper to implement functionality in Software on a generic CPU than in fixed circuits.
For example, we often integrate simple CPU in products that otherwise are fixed circuits, just to perform single functions as they would be too resource intensive and hard to verify. The CPU then becomes a slave to the surrounding circuit.