People here aren't saying, "just suck up the cost and stop whining" or "don't try to get a better price.".
Uh, actually I'm inclined to say exactly that. 
It's not at all trivial to write a piece of software like this, with a rich set of functionality, an intuitive UI, and without any serious showstopper bugs.
On the other hand, there are obviously fewer people who would buy a product like Genetica than there are people who would buy, say, Angry Birds. Still the Spiralgraphics guy ("Atlas", whatever his real name is) has to eat and has to pay his bills. That's just what reality is like.
Which means no more and no less than he needs to sell copies, and he needs to sell them a tiny bit more expensive than for $1.99.
Of course I prefer getting things cheaper too (who wouldn't!) but in this case, this would in all likelihood mean that it is no longer profitable for the author to spend his time developing/supporting the product.
From that point of view, if one wants to profit from the functionality of this excellent product, it is only fair to pay the author's bills.
