Well, I agree with you on many levels! (hows that for ya? )
I think it all boils right back to the title of the thread, modified just a bit...
MeLabs gettings lazy?
Maybe it's not MeLabs that's getting lazy...maybe it's the end user...
End User's getting lazy?
Somebody always wanting something for nothing...
If PBP actually had all of those neato built-in functions, and had updates to add all of those new commands and the like everytime Microchip came out with a new PIC with new modules inside, PBP would cost as much as Visual Studio 2008 Enterprise (or whatever that really expensive version is), or the end user would end up paying big $$$ for updates because the updates are just that special.
But with all that in mind, there are a LOT of nifty add-ons right here in the forums that could be added to the core of PBP (i.e. the printstr function I keep talking about, DMXIN/DMXOUT type functions, the BarGraphs, and the list goes on and on...). PBP probably isn't a big enough money maker to be the core of a 2 man team at MeLabs and be the major focus. Who can blame them? Business is business...can't beat on something that ain't gonna make you no money...