First of all, thank you for reminding me of the existence of the Luddites - figures to be reckoned with in the history of technological scepticism!
It seems that we both agree in giving the imagination the responsibility to elaborate new forms for our technologies (see imagination definitions in my text). We both also apply our research to experimentation and interaction with data and software. Your experiment feels like a new way of online community. Can we try this messaging program on your microprogrammer during the workshop? I also second this notion (Kendal) Would love to play with a messaging system!
The phrase that fascinates me most in your description is: "beyond the explicitly programmed capabilities, the microcontroller provides a vector through which other data can be passed". Does this mean that the microcontroller has some sort of agency or free will?