You mean like the trackpad on my August 2007 Macbook Pro, which is probably the same hardware as current "gesture-capable" trackpads, but cannot be upgraded to support gestures?

From what I've read, my MBP's trackpad has a 10x20 grid of sensors which tell the absolute location of fingers with low resolution. I'm guessing this is how it knows whether there are 2 fingers or 1.

If this is true, the only thing preventing me from having gesture support is software.

Joel Spolsky has a good article that touches on this (figuring out how people actually use your program):

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000065.html

I can think of plenty of counterexamples:

low pay, low creativity/interest:
Janitor, fast food, cashier, field laborer

high pay, high creativity/interest/skill:
President, entrepreneur, doctor, lawyer

How many bits are in a hexadecimal digit?

If you think the answer is five, like the author does, you are incorrect.