The cost of software development is the cost of the developers, designers, etc, and the cost of the building and equipment and heat and cooling and backups and .....
However, in the end, the asking price of an item, and the price that the public is willing to pay has nothing to do with the cost of production. The public will pay X for a product, if a company can produce the product and make a reasonable profit selling at X it will be produced, otherwise it will not be produced.
We have the choice as consumers anytime to buy or not to buy. We don't get to decide if the asking price is "reasonable" (which is up to the consumer) and then choose to "take" it if we don't think it's reasonable, we just don't buy it. Simple economics.
And you know, I understand economics and never even went to college, and earn a living, and pay my bills and never got any special discounts "since I needed it".