In one example, he spent (if I'm not mistaken) only .4% of a client's budget, because he discovered while the client asked for an extensive eLearning solution, all the learners needed was a job-aid/reference, which is what he gave them. The result was an astounding success, despite–as he noted–the fact that many of the industry's less flexible, less adaptable staples might cry "But it's not eLearning!!"

You hit the nail on the head, here. We're taking our field several steps back if we focus on the product and not on the product's result. In my opinion, informal and non-formal learning sprout from the very same place where the field of eLearning originates. The moment we stop adapting our field is the same moment all of us should cry out: "But that's not eLearning!!"