Very interesting and I can’t really blame them on the price point; this is basically the pinnacle of the in-house engineering they’ve been working at since they decided to spin out their own processors. I think it is so early on for these kinds of products that the true “market” isn’t known or formed yet, so nobody really knows if this thing is positioned well or not.
I did not really like how fast and loose with history you were, so I will just say that they did not clean up their act on their own, but were forced to. Many things have been forced on the states judicially, brown v board of education, baker v Carr/wesberry v sanders/reynolds v sims all forced more equitable voting schemes(ie, handling gerrymandering) etc are some easy examples I could think of for how your idea that the states figured themselves out is a misconception.
The truth is that these are all meaningless titles once you consider people change jobs. Some people won’t accept ever going to a lesser position and stay at a company(unless forced out by circumstance) but those who switch generally experience some reshuffling in “rank” when they leave.
If you left the company you work for right now(other than to start your own company) you could find yourself as a staff engineer(one level below) somewhere with an accelerated path to the next level maybe, or in an equivalent role, although this is more difficult just because there are fewer positions and more filters to being hired.
We are all caught between the rock of 'You should get this degree because you are serious about the actual theory of Computer Science' and the hard place of 'the job this degree unlocks justifies whatever it takes to get what you need done.' I enjoy some CS theory(especially theory of computation!) and other nice things but hate school and will never go back. I got my degree in CS for the monetary benefits, not because I was heading in for an enjoyable academic safari.
I will also say, as this person appears to be only a bit older than myself(I would say OP is no older 30) it doesn't shock me at all that they could have learned everything a degree would have taught you eventually just by reading things online. Other than some some algorithms(eg flow, more advanced trees) and some discrete math I can believe you'd hit on most of what a CS degree could offer, if you're willing to find it for yourself that is...