Butterfly, I also have a Gammill Classic + 2006, no robotics. When I got it 5yrs ago I thought if I could quilt enough customer quilts to pay for my health insurance I'd be in heaven. Well, that didn't quite happen as my plan skyrocketed (even through COBRA). At 65yr I now could pay my Medicare with my business, but I'm also working about 18hrs per week at PT job and find that I'm not really interested in expanding my business. I've let customers know that I'm not taking any new quilts from customers from Nov. 3 until Jan 3---I'd really like some time to play on my machine on some projects of my own--including trying to couch chenille yarn.
But I do think you are right that to stay competitive--meaning your priceline will draw in those that aren't looking for true custom quilting, you almost need to be computerized. I have two LA friends that have gone that route and are so busy that they have waiting lists a mile long--their results look nice and they are able to price it at about 2cents an inch. Another LA friend has both a Gammill for FMQ and then an Innova with robotics that she puts E2E on and will be working both at the same time--but she also works out of a shop full time. I'm just not in a place that I want to spend another huge amount of $$ on Elevate and no way I could afford a Statler! My friend that just added Intelliquilter to her APQS really is liking it but there was a definite learning curve and she'd worked in IT before retirement. Good luck on this decision--I'm glad I financially can start going in the direction of doing less and less customer quilting and just enjoying my own projects freehand--like you and Feline that is what I most enjoy. (plus since I like lots of detail, I can sit on my drafting stool and not have to stand! LOL)