I am indeed a bit of a dinosaur, in that I still use the norton as my main workhorse. I never bought shaptons or naniwas. I did buy a couple of Japanese stones and a DMT, but that goes way beyond 'minimal'.
I even know a guy who has been using only a pasted paddle to maintain his edge for the last 3 years.
I think it is normal that people advise different stones these days (e.g. naniwa instead of norton) but even then a beginner should not need more than the equivalents of the norton 4000 and 8000.