good, I have to acknowledge the reality of what you're saying, if you're talking primarily about the consumer market. Not as much if you're a professional, though. Those admittedly high prices are what enable the products to be as good-sounding and reliable as they are, and a dealer/service/support network that's there when needed, all of which is necessary if professionals are going to base their livelihoods on using the equipment, especially in situations where there can be no "do-overs".
Over the decades that I've been recording concerts, the price of the best-quality microphones has generally come down quite a bit in "constant dollars" (i.e. prices with inflation factored in). Depending on the factor you decide to use, they might be anywhere from 30 to 50% less costly than when I started out in the 70s. Major accessories designed and built by the microphone manufacturers themselves, as opposed to the third-party items that they also sell (e.g. Koenig & Meyer stands; Rycote windscreens and shock mounts), have always been strikingly expensive but have generally come down in price, too.
Which may only show how very, very expensive they used to be, I dunno. But in any case I certainly didn't mean to put anyone down for being honest people who have to give up other things in order to afford this hobby. I just meant, since I do see some people spending much more than I do on certain kinds of items (e.g. I use fancy microphones but not fancy recorders), I think there are people who might be interested in trying extension tubes, is all. Or they might at least like to fantasize about them.
--best regards