It is absolutely fair to say the no one needs a XX80 Ti card to have a very good gaming experience. I am running a 1070 Ti now for 18 months as a stop gap solution, but it has served me very well on my 1440p 144hz monitor. Cost me £380 new with decent factory OC. I only want something better because for future proofing.
The one thing about the £1,000+ cards that no one seems to realise is the change to the target audience over time. I don't have the data to back this up but it's logically sound, which is to say that the average age of the dedicated PC gamer has increased over the years. Said average PC gamer is probably now in their 30s, and like most people on average will now be earning more than they did in their 20s and have more discretionary income for their hobby. I now fall fairly well into that average, and I see the people around me throw considerable money at their hobbies that I would have considered mad as a young adult. Nvidia know this, and they have asked for four figures from customers over time (starting with Titans as the toe in the water), and increasingly people said 'yes, I will pay that'.
The non-dedicated PC gamers should look at four figure graphics cards the way I look at my cyclist friends and their carbon fiber bikes - that's fine for them but not for me thanks. As alluded to above regarding my 1070 Ti card, you can still get a good card for a lot less money and the existence of a £1,000+ card doesn't change that for you.
I'm not happy with the £1,000 cards by the way, but I understand why they exist. To use another analogy, I don't get put off buying a £40 New watch just because there are Rolexs on offer as well. I know it's not quite the same with graphics cards because the £1,000 cards might slowly pull up the average card prices for all tiers below, but it's still a useful way to thing about it that is fairly true.