I didn't mean to imply that PSP was a Photoshop replacement. I wasn't grouping it in that particular statement. I meant to say it was a far better program for my purposes. It may not be nearly as powerful, but it still posesses many of the capabilites of Photoshop, and the interface is "far better" for someone like me. If I want to crop or resize an image or something, I think that it is easier in PSP. These simple tasks were difficult for me in Photoshop, just as they are difficult to do with any skill or precision in "Grandma's Photo Editor."
As for the general issues you addressed in your post, I think you're missunderstanding me, particularly in my perceptions of software. I want you to use a program like Pinnacle's DVD Impression Pro, then DVDlab, then tell me what you think. If you haven't tried these programs for yourself, then what you said about my reactions to them is pretty unfair. Besides, DVDlab is much more than something to create a DVD of "Timmy's birthday", and if you had used it or looked at it, you'd see that while it isn't Scenarist, it matches and exceeds most other "high end" DVD creation tools.
I'm sorry, but everything you said in your post doesn't apply to me. I know what I'm expecting out of these programs, I know what they can do/are intended to do, and I know when they don't meet that goal. I am not one of those people at your office. If you want me to expand on my experience with Impression, and why it was a terrible $600 program, I won't have a problem.
I don't think I made my point clear enough. Here it is in a simpler form (one I actually thought through

):
It is obvious that there are usable, well made, powerful programs in the sub-$100 range. Why isn't there such a program for DVD editing?
Everything else I have said in these posts is superfluous. I intended to show reasons that companies are obviously trying to force price categories on us, creating the rule that anything below $100 is nothing but a template program, and to get something of any use, you have to spend $400+. I want to see that change.