Airplanes are a crummy experience. Small seats, no legroom, no real food. It wasn't always like this.

I have a book from 1953. Among other things, it has airline timetables. You could fly from LA to Hong Kong (with several stops). It cost $1200. In 1953.

Now it's going to be a much worse experience. But it's something that regular people can afford at least once, if they want to.

Does "really great experience that I can't afford" really beat "crummy experience but at least I can afford it"?

Computers are more affordable than they were in the past (or they were, until this year). Software is more affordable than it was in the past - much of it is free. Does "I can do what I want to, but it's a really crummy experience" beat "the software is wonderful, but I can't afford all the pieces I want/need"?