[ralferoo]

> "a simple microcontroller is usually cheaper than a 555 nowadays, often doesn't require external components,"

> Often? Every UC I've ever used has required a whole slew of caps and resistors just to get the thing to take in operative firmware through a programming port.

ATtiny for example. Many others only requiring an external capacitor, and complaining about a decoupling cap on a chip replacing a 555 that also needs an RC network to function seems rather petty.

> And accomplish things at a glacial speed that a basic hardware-only solution would've solved.

Most of these uCs operate at least 1 MHz or higher. The ATtiny85 can run at 8MHz from the internal oscillator and has an interrupt latency of 4-6 cycles. To achieve anything that's replacing something you'd do with a 555, you'd have to try incredibly hard to get latency as bad as you're describing. Perhaps they're actually doing something significantly more complicated than just replacing a 555?