I haven't messed around with x86 enough to know whether it is actually somehow easier than the ARM stuff, but I certainly agree with you that CPUs are damn comp

I haven't messed around with x86 enough to know whether it is actually somehow easier than the ARM stuff, but I certainly agree with you that CPUs are damn complicated. I loaded up the datasheet for the M3's when typing up this reply. 384 pages. Contrast that with the TI 74181 ALU datasheet from the days of old: 18 pages, most of which are just detailed diagrams of the distances between the pinouts. The logic diagrams fit on a single page. You can build a simple CPU using one of these machines in a few hours in your basement. Hardware is only going to get more complicated. At what point does it become so complicated that no one person can reasonably understand how a computer works "under the hood", even from an abstract level?