23 Apr
1999
23 Apr
'99
12:03 a.m.
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(a)ncal.verio.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, April 22, 1999 10:16 PM
Subject: Re: The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were
the80s
dastar(a)siconic.com
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:
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