That, of course, has changed drastically in the recent few years. Cubase and Nuendo ruled the roost and Ableton 8.0 was still a few years off. This was a time when producers masochistically took pride in the complexity of their tools. A basic tool to help beginners make simple beats.
Serious producers I know dismissed it as mostly a toy. I remember when FL Studio was first launched (and it was still called Fruity Loops).
