If home recording is to live up to its promise, and there's no technical reason why it can't, it will require networking of specialized, competent amateur talent working in concert with each other to match the professional-grade outcomes the big-$ acts have with their army of specialists. The Internet makes this freely possible, and that's the greatest thing in terms of potential -- you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you take up recording.
But this isn't what I see happening. What I see is the predictable one-man-does-all (badly) situation where the guy has ten cents worth of anything to contribute to music and a million-dollar load of defensive ego, and instead of seeking out those who will work with him to get something done, he gravitates to what are effectively social-networking forums for those just like him to mutually support that awful mindset.
You know, I was thinking about this while cleaning my "studio" (bedroom), and while by and large I agree with you, bongo, I don't know if I quite see eye to eye with you on "division of labor."
To a point, you're probably right - a guy whose sole focus is doing one thing and one thing only in the complex process from a song idea to a finished product on sale at Best Buy in the new releases bin is going to have an edge over a guy who's trying to do everything, or even most things (say, all aspects of tracking and mixing). But I don't know if I agree that this is the biggest reason why almost without fail home studio guys don't churn out pro results. Take the example of your friend with the Tele and Pod in his home studio, who working basically solo was able to produce commercially viable results. It's clearly possible for one guy to do everything.
I'm not sure why this was running through my mind while I was cleaning my room, but it occured to me that I'm a pretty good guitarist. Not amazing, I've got some areas I need to improve, but I can hold my own. That shouldn't come as a surprise, though, because I've logged thousands and thousands of hours practicing, rehearsing, performing, recording, or just noodling for my own enjoyment. It's something I do a LOT, of course I've gotten good at it.
And that, I think, is the biggest difference between your typical home recorder and a pro. Guys like me and, I suspect, the majority of the board, are hobbyists. I get up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, roll into the office, and in the downtime when I'm not fucking around with data for my clients, I read music and recording boards to try to teach myself a bit. I then go home, and either hang out with friends, practice guitar, take an evening off to cook a nice meal, or, maybe every week or couple weeks, fire up the studio and record something. Recording is something I enjoy doing, and I'm, if hardly brilliant, than at least kind of proficcient at, but I just really don't log that much time doing it. I don't "practice" much - I'm like that guy who picks up a guitar and strums a few John Mayer songs every once in a while at a party.
A pro, meanwhile, recording IS his job. I'll log maybe 8-10 hours a month recording and mixing - he'll do that in an average day. Like anything there's a learning curve, and a pro not only is more likely to have been instructed (either formally at a recording school or informally at an internship or apprenticeship with an established studio), and has then logged countless hours recording and mixing, all of which have trained his ear and his instincts such that when he's put into a mixing situation, he'll have a fair idea what steps he has to take it without even really having to consciously think, just as if you throw a riff or a set of chord changes at me in a jamming situation I'll, without really thinking about it, know what scales or arpeggios I can play over it without stopping to work anything out.
Less than "division of labor," I think the biggest driver is just labor, plain and simple. If you're constantly doing it and have been for years, then you're simply going to be better at it than a guy like me who records a couple nights a month, after work, before it gets too late to play plugged in, and generally mixes with a bourbon in hand because fuck it, I'm not at work. A plug-in or a tip or two or better pres and a locker full of awesome mics won't immediately turn me from a hobbyist to an expert, which I think is the real problem.
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