This is very true. I have what most people would consider a "pretty advanced" setup for work, and all of my money has gone into audio and lighting. I use the built-in webcam on my work MBP, and I constantly get positive comments from colleagues and customers about my audio and video quality. For video quality, /lighting/ is actually far more important than the camera itself. Even a many thousand dollars camera will not fix bad lighting in a room.

Everything you said about audio is spot-on. I will say the cheap booms suck, and it's worth spending money on a proper boom. Heil makes a boom that's relatively cheap and actually good, but most people at work who ask me how to get started I say to either buy a Blue or Rode setup, with their kit that includes the boom and shock mount.

For audio software on Mac, Rogue Amoeba makes the best stuff, bar none.