> the Cell CPU is a hell of a complicated thing to program for:
> A central "clever" unit, and seven almost dumb units around it

One could happily ignore those "almost dumb units" and pretend they are not even there. That would leave the CPU with a "clever" 3.2 GHz two-way threaded in-order Power Architecture core.

> there's no documentation

...like there's none for the PPC Macs.

> The CELL processor looks almost tailor made for weird scientific
> calculations. I was very surprised it got to a games console.

The Cell processor going into the PS3 had been known since March 2001, i.e. years before the specs of the Cell processor itself became known in November 2004. So your surprise must have been about the Cell's specs rather than about the fact it was going into the PS3 ;-)