[chipsy]

My thoughts concur. To restate it in my own words:

As digital technology becomes more complex it tends to commoditize.

You can see the phenomenon across both software and hardware. For example, in music:

The Fairlight and Synclavier were monumentally expensive(priced in six-digits during the late 70s thru early 80s), being the earliest commercial computer-based synthesizers. By the late 80s multiple options existed to get similar functionality at a fraction of the cost(new hardware synths, MIDI, and 16-bit computers). And in the two decades after that, computer-based solutions grew better and started dominating. Now you can do all your synthesis, sampling, and processing "in the box" - and solutions with more flexibility than anything in the 80s are available for free. If you want to produce professionally and do things as quickly and reliably as possible, you can splash out for the cutting-edge commercial software, but it absolutely isn't necessary for amateur use. The most expensive stuff now is the analog bits: the guitars and microphones and monitors and preamps. But for a fraction of the old Synclavier's cost, you can now bury yourself in the top-of-the-line equipment of 2010. Apart from a few artisan works and rare vintage pieces, there's almost no "multi-millionare" grade equipment left to buy. Music-making doesn't need capital anymore, just talent.