I think in the case of hard disk space or internet bandwidth, the blame is less on users and more on developers who seem to see this as an invitation to bloated (but convenient to develop with) data formats or frameworks since "space is now cheap". (Even if it's actually the user's space and not theirs)

So the equivalent would be rising prices to eat up any benefit - and exactly that seems to happen. At least there seem to be enough studies about the rise in prices of certain sectors vs the (far lower) rise in income to debunk the "they are just uneducated/undisciplined" hypothesis.