On 22 Apr 99 at 22:19, Sellam Ismail wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
>
> > 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.
>
> Don't you mean YOUR attitudes, Richard? Get this through your thick
> skull: YOU do NOT represent the mass thought process of humans. Time and
> again you insist on applying your OWN personal values and opinions upon
> the rest of the world when you make an assertion, and fail to realize
> there are 6 billion people out there with ideas differing from your own.
>
> > $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.
>
> Sure, but the point is that it could CONCEIVABLY have been afforded by
> anyone who wished to save their money for 6 months so they could collect
> the parts together to build one. Just because YOU would not have chosen
> to build one does not mean everyone else in the world would have made that
> same choice. Everyone on the planet does not share your values, contrary
> to your belief and opinion.
>
> I know if I were alive back then, and I had the same excitement for
> computers that I do today, and an opportunity to build my own computer
> came up for 1/10th of my yearly salary, I sure as hell would have saved
> the money to build one.
>
> 1/10th of the average American's yearly salary is about $3,000 these days
> (thereabouts) and I know plenty of people who would save up that amount to
> buy a righteous computer with all the trimmings in our time. So $300 out
> of a $3,600 yearly salary (or whatever) back then is not only possible but
> very do-able.
>
> > People weren't crazy then as they are now . . . and all the loose nuts
> > hadn't yet learned to run to California.
>
> Whatever.
>
> Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naaah, you would have bought a Sax or Trumpet. Or maybe a really cool
Indian Motorcycle. Or chopped and channelled an old model B Ford and put in
a 59A block with a 3/4 cam and dual carbs. A computer ? Only some weird
ultra straight with social problems would be interested and dedicated enough
to go that route.
ciao larry
lwalker_at_interlog.com
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Received on Fri Apr 23 1999 - 17:37:12 BST