[nospice]

But why would it be amazing? The alternative right now is that you do it in software and just dedicate a couple of cores to the task (or even just put in a separate $2 chip to run the decoder).

Like, I get the aesthetic appeal, and I accept that there is a small subset of uses where an FPGA really makes a difference. But in the general case, it's a bit like getting upset at people for using an MCU when a 555 timer would do. Sure, except doing it the "right" way is actually slower, more expensive, and less flexible, so why bother?

[fennecbutt]

Battery powered or thermally constrained devices.

[pjc50]

You definitely don't want an FPGA if those are your concerns.

[nospice]

...which are playing back video, so they're likely blowing most of their power budget on the display and on radio. I guess my threshold of "amazing" is different. Again, I'm not denying some incremental utility in specialized uses, but most of the time, it just doesn't seem to be worth the pain - especially since nothing about the implementation will be portable or maintainable in the long haul.

In the same vein, no one is writing a smartwatch software stack in 100% bare-metal assembly, although in the hands of a capable developer, I'm sure it could prolong battery life.