My suggestion to use the 8888 was solely based on an apnote I found on the Philips web-site. As far as I can remember, the only reason to use this chip rather than the 8880 was that, because it had been designed with the 8052 in mind, it would be easier to use. You'll have to search for the article yourself if you want to know the exact undelying pro's and cons. Agreed, you can interface anything to everything, but it just may be that it's really easier to use the 8888...who knows.