I would actually argue the exact opposite – sometimes the process makes all the difference for the level of respect one should accord to the piece.
For example: http://www.deviantart.com/#/d57smxx – that is a piece of vector art. If I didn't know that it was an image produced over 90 hours by an artist in a vector environment, I'd probably just say "decent portrait" and move on. Instead, I am floored and my respect for the creator of the piece is multiplied hugely.
How, exactly, do we separate the act of creativity from the product of it? The two are so intertwined that I think it's often hard to do.
In any case, I don't agree with the author of this piece. Technology advances and always resets the bar for technical achievement. That's a good thing – it challenges us to go beyond, to explore further, while opening new worlds to those who wouldn't or couldn't.
Instead of looking down one's nose to prove superiority, they ought to get out and make something better, harder, more interesting.
