The previous comment should have made it obvious it was NOT within the reach
of the "average" American. First of all, it was over a month's pay for the
average American, it was equivalent to six months' groceries for a family of
four, and you could get a refrigerator or a washer, neither of which were
routine discretionary expenditures for the "average" American of that time.
That was during and immediately after the Korean war, when a 4-bedroom house
on a 1/4-acre lot cost $4600. That same house, now, in California would
cost you $4600 a month to rent. People's attitudes about what's important
enough to spend your money on have changed considerably.
$300 was not an expenditure an "average" American would consider lightly in
1952. That was the year I came to this country. There was an election
between Adlai E. Stevenson (Democrat) and Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican).
It was BEFORE the first test of a hydrogen bomb.
People weren't crazy then as they are now . . . and all the loose nuts
hadn't yet learned to run to California.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail <dastar_at_ncal.verio.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, April 22, 1999 10:16 PM
Subject: Re: The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were
the80s
>On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
>
>> No, what's relevant isn't the technology and its state of maturity, but
the
>> comparison of the relative value of the numbers. Today, it's just
assumed
>> that if you buy an item for $300 and it subsequently breaks, you shrug
your
>> shoulders and throw it away. Back in the '50's, not many people were
silly
>> enough to do that.
>
>So what? $300, even back in the 50s, was still realistically within the
>price range of the average American. A multi-million dollar mainframe was
>not. $300 vs $$$millions is a significant difference.
>
>Sellam Alternate e-mail:
dastar_at_siconic.com
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
>
> Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
> See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
> [Last web site update: 04/03/99]
>
Received on Fri Apr 23 1999 - 00:03:45 BST