fpga programming is NOT easy. Technically You can make asic from fpga, i.e, it gives You possibility to build Your own, custom CPU. Altera has some fpga boards that is meant for creating and testing Your own cpu / asic before putting it to production, but those bords cost 10K+ usd.
Basically all that fpga programming does - it makes CPU out of fpga elements (gates). But to get to advanced programming, You first need to implement all low level stuff, as (AFAIK), fpga only knows how to do AND "instruction" (because it has AND gates), the rest must be implemented yourself. I might be wrong thought, as I'm complete noob in fpgas.
That's why I'm learning CUDA - to learn parallel programming and later use my knowledge on bunch of fpgas to make my own hardware miners
I have little resources, but bright mind, knowledge in electronics and friends with bright minds and who knows - if I'm lucky, maybe Europe will have it's own asic / fpga manufacturer next year
