I'm a newbie. In September 2006 e-frontier was giving away Poser 5, I think so that there would be more people eligible to upgrade to the upcoming Poser 7. I got my serial number but the download servers were overloaded. So I downloaded DAZ |Studio in the meantime. (I still prefer its interface to that of Poser.) I did the little tutorial where you pose a fairy in the woods. Then I started moving things around, trying this and that, and next thing you know I was hooked. Two months later I ordered Poser 7. Then I bought Bryce but could not wrap my brain around the interface. Then there was a sale on Carrara.

My fatal step was trying the PLE of Vue 6 Infinite. A week later I'd bought the real thing. Ecosystems are really really addictive, plus I personally find the Vue interface to be intuitive. (Although they say that the only really intuitive interface is the nipple. Beyond that it's all learned behavior :) )

I do have  some background in hobby photography. I found that getting an SLR back in the 1980's changed the way I saw the world.

But yes, I'd have to agree with alexcoppo that the resources available on the Internet really make the difference between then and now.