Yes, in the past, the "toolbag" metaphor was used to sell us extremely expensive productivity tools like IDE's and the like. But as any developer who doesn't use them and still makes a perfectly fine living has realised, it was a hype-train setup by a small group of people that was used to accumulate wealth. But the end result was very modest or zero improvements in actual productivity.

Now these things are practically given away for free to drive people towards websites where you can be sold software you won't ever own (SaaS/cloud) which was the next hype-train that was setup by a smnall group of people and that was used to accumulate wealth. But the end result was very modest or zero improvements in actual productivity.

Here we are on the next hype train. And I think you've very much spotted the pattern. What these things are good for is driving up demand for new products and services that have increasingly marginal, zero, or sometimes even negative effects on human wellbeing overall.