Even if people don't have high-end workstations, they can now walk around and examine a product that doesn't even physically exist yet, all on a Web site. This is virtual prototyping. There's more to it than just being able to communicate digitally with the engineers on the data side. There's the whole imagery, visualization and marketing side, too. As industrial designers, I think we need to have a hand in all aspects of development of the idea, in engineering, and in marketing, and always mindful of what will make a design appealing to the customer.
Craftsmanship is more important than ever.
The computer, the technology, and these 3D modeling programs are only tools - they're more sophisticated, but they're still only tools. This is the craft. And digital arts are exacting by nature, thus you have to respect that nature. It's important to develop that skill. Beyond that, with respect to digital tools, my advice is to just make a commitment to something and jump in and do it.