SharePoint: buy the platform, sell the app

In discussions with a few folk regarding SharePoint over the last couple of months I have come to the conclusion that most businesses (and Higher Education is no exception to this) purchase SharePoint on the promises of a slick, shiny demonstration to senior managers (probably at one of those Caribbean 'conferences' I'm always hearing so much about) and the annoying fact that you can, more or less, do anything with SharePoint.