I'll give my two cents. I personally find anim8or to be a great tool. Comparing Anim8or and Blender is like comparing a pen and paper with a scientific calculator. Anim8or is simple and easy to use, just like the pen. pen and paper are usefull for many things, but you can't do calculations as quickly as the calculator. Each has thier own advantages; I wouldn't use a scientific calculator to add 2+2, I would use my head. However, I wouldn't want to calculate any country's national spending record with pen and paper, I could, but it would take forever.
And just like a scientific calculator, if you understand complex math, those calculators come fairly natural. It doesn't take long to get a math scholar to use one.
I got Blender a little more than a week ago, and already I can pump out helicopter models in 1/2 a day. Did I learn Blender? No. Have I learned Anim8or? No. Have I learned how to make an effective model? Yes. If you understand the concepts behind 3D animation, then doing them in another program is easy. You may learn every button on a scientific calculator, but if you don't know algebra, you will never be able to use the calculator. Don't study your calculator, study math. Then you will be able to do all the functions of that grand scientific calculator, on a piece of paper. Don't study Blender, Maya, 3DSMax, or Anim8or. Study animation. Then you can be great no matter what program you use.
Ok, that's a bit more than 2 cents.