I can understand the author's frustration, but I would have to agree with the majority of responses here that the iApps are appropriately priced.
The one consumer-oriented Apple product that I *do* wish offered an upgrade/discount path is .Mac. Of course, until recently, Apple offered a promotion that gave a $20 credit for each new .Mac customer referred, but that program seems to have ended. The first year or so of .Mac featured some nice freebies for members, but the "perks" have fallen rather flat of late. Some sort of incentive or break for customers to continue to use the service would be nice.
Upgrading, Why It Hurts To Be A Mac User