It's much like any photography equipment. Those manufacturers charge appropriately for their "gold standard" equipment. It's the price one pays in the pursuit of the ability to produce satisfactory images.
louparker wrote:
Photoshop may be the gold standard, but it's price reflects that. However, I disagree with you that Light Room is also the gold standard -- I don't think it's any better than the current ACDSee Pro, especially the Ultimate version. And, I'm sure there is other editing software that is also on a par with LR.