Considering that people have been purchasing live for a long time now it's safe to say that people don't mind paying for it. Value is in the view of the customer. If it's not worth 50$ to one it doesn't mean it's not worth it to another.
MS has a targeted audience of 18-32 or something of the sort so assuming most of those ppl have jobs it wouldnt take long to accrue 50$ even if you are part time. And as it's been said you get almost all features available on XBL on a silver account. I've played both PSN (loved Warhawk) and XBL a lot and IMHO live just works better. Even with the updates which are very much welcomed in the PS3 community, for me it's just like ehh i've alrdy had them on my other service.
Both have their strengths and rather than bashing the other one we, the consumers can pick whatever we want, and be civil about it.
Consoles Owned: Sega Genesis, NES, PS2 (RIP) N64, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii
"In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is rule."
~ Friedrich Nietzsche
