"there are no live threads on the 8052 forum page"

The threads seem to have returned. I guess there was a temporary problem with the web site. I still check 8052.com regularly, but there is unfortunately not much to read.

My company sells '51 based products to customers at a level such that they do not care what microcontroller is on the board, just that it does what they want. (We also sell a lot of boards that don't have microcontrollers on them, so we don't sweat the microcontroller thing too much.)

I have done some stuff with AVRs, and I like them. The Arduino thing is just an example of microcontrollers dumbed-down, but that is the way of the world now I suppose.