It's never too late to get started! Also, if you're keen to try M8 before investing, you can make a "headless" M8 from a $30 teensy board, but you have to use it via a web emulator. If that sounds intimidating in any way, it's really not - there's no enclosure, no soldering, and no real configuration other than just flashing the teensy with a GUI app.
I've been using M8 for ~4 years now, it's an amazing and fun way to make music, and I think it gels for a lot of people who aren't traditionally trained in music.
I'm a big fan of trackers, so maybe I'll pick one up and a pair of cheapo wired headphones to play with.
FWIW I've considered going to headless route, I'm not afraid of a bit of soldering if I need to, but I feel like a lot of the "magic" of not just being at a computer is lost on it.
Amazing to think that, adjusted for inflation from 1984 pounds, it cost less to build than ten miles of track on HS2 (current estimate £307m per mile).