Period pricing references (was Re: Micro$oft Biz'droid Lusers)

From: Frank McConnell <fmc_at_reanimators.org>
Date: Sat Apr 27 18:25:16 2002

"Erik S. Klein" <eklein_at_impac.com> wrote:
> My first IBM PC (December 1981) cost nearly $2,800 for a 64K machine, 1 SSDD
> floppy (120K with DOS 1.0) and a color card with an RF Modulator.

Back in the early-to-mid 1990s some friends of mine and I were
comparing microcomputers we had over a roughly 15-year time span. Our
conclusion was that from 1976 'til then, it cost about US$3000 to buy
"the computer system you wanted", meaning what your computer system
eventually grew into. That usually included some sort of peripherals,
often bought after the initial purchase, and we were looking at an
IMSAI 8080, a couple TRS-80s (Model Is), an Apple ][+, an IBM PC/XT,
an Amiga 1000, and I'm not sure what else.

I think at the time I was thinking my 486/33 desktop PC was below the
curve (at about $2000), but I bought it from someone who was closing
his computer store so got a pretty good deal. (BTW, I think it's
on-topic now, it's still in use as a dial-on-demand NAT router, and
it's been on 24x7 most of the last 10 years. Yes, you can blame me
for last year's power woes in California.)

I'm not sure where things are today but I think prices have come down.
My last couple systems bought new for a purpose are notebook PCs, and
of course there's a premium associated with that. I'm thinking they
are something like $2500 and $2000, and the latter is an iBook that
hasn't cost me that much yet but probably will by the time I'm done
with it (I want to get it some more RAM, an Airport card, maybe a USB
stiffy drive).

-Frank McConnell
Received on Sat Apr 27 2002 - 18:25:16 BST