Hi Matt,
With the relatively limited experience I have in this field, I would actually agree on what you have said.
It is not just a rambling, but gives confidence to others to take a bold step forward in using uC instead of uP.
In fact, I need more power in my application extension, but still I want to stick to my 8 bit uC (but more powerful). I do have to use the UART, SPI, etc!

Sudharshan