Looking at the recording gear in the typical catalogue - Sam Ash, Pro Sound
and Stage
Lighting, etc. it makes me wonder, what normally ends up being done with
this stuff? I wonder what percentage of their business is comprised of those
who've done careful research and make an educated purchase based on fitting
gear to a genuine need -vs- people with more cash than common sense and just
buying stuff without really having a handle on what they're buying?

Essentially every piece of gear is labeled as "Professional Quality". I
suppose you can't call them liars since there's no definitive definition of
what "professional" means, though there might be a certain concensus among
those who work in recording.

Take for example, a Korg D32XD 32-track digital recorder, one of the pricier
recorders in the Pro Sound and Lighting catalogue.

Do you feel someone who's competent could actually make a broadcast quality
top-40 recording with one of these? If not, why not? Is there some brick
wall shortcoming that something like this has that would prevent you from
making a top-notch recording, regardless of your skill or outboard gear
used? Are all releases by major labels recorded in a full-blown studio on a
board that you could land a small plane on, or not necessarily?

Or alternately, what do you feel would be an appropriate application for
something like this?