I'm also quite dissappointed in Embarcadero. To me it seems that they try to get as much money from their products as they can, without considering the market and the popularity of their products. If Delphi Starter was only $100 and without the awfull revenue-limitation, alot more people would use it (including me). I feel that there are plenty of companies who are offering the basic version of their product for free (or for a very low price) to attract new developers. Also, doubling to price for support is just ridiculous!

At this point, I think most hobbyists use other ways to get their copy of Delphi or just use lazarus.