I suspect that few of the readers of this list remember the early '50's as I
do. I wasn't trying to compare or contrast the prices of the antique
computers which were under discussion, but rather point out that few people
would put out a month's pay (gross) for a personal computer, even today. In
the early '50's there were more people, including some professionals, with
less than $300 after taxes (and they were MUCH lower then) than there were
people earning more. There wasn't yet a minimum wage of $1.00 per hour,
and, in fact, when I had a minimum wage job in '60, I earned <$5.00 per
8-hour day. Naturally a $300 computer wasn't on my list of things to buy.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: CLASSICCMP_at_trailing-edge.com <CLASSICCMP_at_trailing-edge.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, April 22, 1999 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were
the80s
>>> Just to put things into perspective, a week's groceries, these days, for
a
>>> family of four, cost about $150, a decent mid-priced car costs $15000,
and a
>>> farily well equipped and appropriately designated personal computer with
a
>>> 400MHz pentium, 8GB HDD, 64MB of RAM, OS installed, all the multimedia
>>> features, plus a current-generation modem (V.90) costs $400 less the
monitor
>>> with monitors costing $139 for a 15" and $300 for a 20" type. These
prices
>>> are from Best-Buy's ad in last Sunday's paper. You can probably do
better
>>> if you shop.
>
>>These prices are also based on technology that has had 50 years to mature,
>>and therefore the comparison is entirely invalid.
>
>"If the automobile had followed the same price-performance changes as
>the computer industry in the past 50 years, a Rolls Royce would today cost
>$4.95, get two million miles to the gallon, go 50000 MPH, and explode
>once a day, killing everyone inside." -- Robert X. Cringley
>
>--
> Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa_at_trailing-edge.com
> Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
> 7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
> Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Received on Thu Apr 22 1999 - 21:02:16 BST