I'd also point out that the expansion of SaaS, open source, and mobile app marketplaces impacts this.
Look at services like FreshBooks and Basecamp. The engineering effort to implement comparable solutions used to be immense; now you can buy into online services for less than the price of lunch, with no long-term contracts.
Similarly, look at open source solutions like WordPress. An afternoon with a $5 hosting account and a few plugins will get a site that would have cost you $100K+ in 1998 feature-wise.
I'm also amazed at how often a few minutes searching for an app will get me something that fits the need perfectly - and costs less than $4.
Look at services like FreshBooks and Basecamp. The engineering effort to implement comparable solutions used to be immense; now you can buy into online services for less than the price of lunch, with no long-term contracts.
Similarly, look at open source solutions like WordPress. An afternoon with a $5 hosting account and a few plugins will get a site that would have cost you $100K+ in 1998 feature-wise.
I'm also amazed at how often a few minutes searching for an app will get me something that fits the need perfectly - and costs less than $4.