Has the cost of building software dropped 90%?

While this is true, I think some fields like game development may not always have this problem. If your goal is to release a non-upgradable game - fps, arcade, single-player titles, maintenance may be much less important than shipping.

edit: typos

I think that is an applicable domain, but the problem is that every gamer I know who is not in the tech industry is vehemently opposed to AI.

Well, they just love complaining. You won't find many who profess to like DLC, yet that sells.

I'm trying to understand where this kind of thinking comes from. I'm not trying to belittle you, I sincerely want to know: Are you aware that everyone writing software has the goal of releasing software so perfect it never needs an upgrade? Are you aware that we've all learned that that's impossible?

Nobody wants to ship that! They want perpetually upgraded live service games instead, because that's recurring revenue.

this was basically true until consoles started getting an online element. the up-front testing was more serious compared to the complexity of the games. there were still bugs, but there was no way to upgrade short of a recall.

> I'm trying to understand where this kind of thinking comes from.

I used to be a game developer.

And why did we abandon this model?

Also, computer games existed at the same time as consoles. People were playing games loaded from floppy disks on computers back in the early 1980's

I'm not saying that this model is profitable in the current environment, but it did exist in a real world environment at one point, making the point that certain processes are compatible with useful products, but maybe not leading edge competitive products that need to make a profit currently.