web hosting venture

So I had written this whole spill about what this thread is about and decided to start over. To put it more simply I suppose. I couldn't find a topic here where this fit so I'm posting it in Off Topic.

I've been dabbling in Internet Marketing for the last few years and I think with a decent degree of success. I've almost always managed to earn a good deal more than my investments. A win for me. But the truth is I'm a web hoster at heart. I've dedicated my entire adult life to the field; once on my own and since then working for a couple different companies. Now I'm wanting to get back into the game, my way, my style. I've learned so much since being a young 18 year old know-it-all that I really feel I can do even better this go (to those wondering I sold my last company at the age of 19).

I've never looked past the last company I was working for. So I've been doing my research, looking at the current market, getting the know of the current trends, you know... what you're suppose to do. I feel pretty confident about getting back into the field on my own. Yes hosting is saturated but it's always been saturated. It's one of those fields, I feel, where there's always room for more.

Given what I've been looking up I'm wondering how many of you still used shared hosting? And how many of you have your own VPS systems you use?

I ask because a lot of the field seems to be pushing VPS more even though the pricing now is the same or less than some shared hosting. It makes me question the viability of shared hosting vs VPS. I can't tell if this is just a trend or a bunch of kids throwing VPS systems on cheap hardware cause... come on... a 1GB ram/10GB Disk/1TB bandwidth for $5/month? WTF is that?! Granted that doesn't come with a control panel but still... geez.

I'm also looking at DirectAdmin instead of cPanel. It can do the same things, is less resource heavy, and will save myself and my clients money in the long run. But that's just me thinking out loud, sorry.

Your thoughts? Do you people (Internet Marketers would be one of my target clients) still use shared hosting? If so, what do you like to honestly see in a host and the features they over? I've always been a Quality vs Quantity guy. Service is #1 but still you want offer a product that your clients will want and one you will be proud of.