I will use alpha 5 for a web site that I will be hosting and maintaining that is data driven. The cost of the application server is in the ballpark for this usage, especially if a reasonable ISP is found to host sites. I use myhosting.com for my MSSql work so about $25/mo is the break even point.

I will not be developing a planned product for distribution because of the pricing and licensing structure. I too was hoping for a 'runtime' version for sites where constant maintenance was not an issue (ie: no data definition changes after deployment). I had been hoping to be able to sell a product with a runtime that would allow whatever level of concurrent access I had paid for (ie: 5 users, web or networked).