So much bickering over pricing smacks of envy!
You can either afford the current fastest\champion\best or not!, what is the point of bemoaning it?
Is it not the same with the pinnacle of any industry?
Pretty much wrong on all points here from my perspective.
First, nearly everyone I know who's into PC gaming can afford this card, but none of them are going to buy it at this price. Myself included. Am I envious? Not at all, I'm quite looking forward to seeing the performance results in general and OCing results in particular from those who have gotten theirs or waiting for it. I actually like knowing that if I want appreciably better performance then my current setup, I at least have an option even if I may not agree with the price.
Second, what's the point of bemoaning the "bemoaners"? You do realize there's always the person who thinks they're the "voice of reason" in every thread such as this where someone says what you just said. No one will read that, suddenly feel enlightened and stop complaining.
Finally, it doesn't happen in all industries. The issue many have here isn't simply the high asking price, but that this isn't the real "high end" card, but is being priced like a card that is a tier or two above it, in turn inflating the price of all the other cards below it and/or preventing us from potentially even seeing a higher end card.
The difference between this and other industries is the level of competition, which I hope will be more fierce soon.