More RAM is becoming the standard because software developed with more RAM is less efficient. And developers tend to have powerful computers "because it's their job", which encourages them to write inefficient code. > 16GB RAM is also a practical capacity for general tasks such as web browsing, office work 16GB RAM to read and write text and see images... I think it just says it all.
It's not the developer hardware, its that every last available CPU cycle & KB of ram gets consumed by ad/tracking bullshit on every website we visit.
And most of this stuff isn't even doing anything that special or demanding, which is the sad part.