Bah, hum bug!! 

I started with Bryce because it was very inexpensive.. the price was right for something I was unsure about. Now, if let's say Maya was under $50 and that was the first 3D app I would get exposed to (intead of Bryce) then probably I'll do doing Maya stuff instead of Bryce.

My point is I've been works from Rochr, Orbital, AgentSmith who can make Bryce do things simply too amazing to even find the words to describe. A beginner's app could probably be any app if the price is low enough, and not from the app's ability.