23 Apr
1999
23 Apr
'99
5:37 p.m.
On 22 Apr 99 at 22:19, Sellam Ismail wrote:
On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
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(a)interlog.com
Let us know of your upcoming computer events for our Events Page.
t3c(a)xoommail.com
Collectors List and info http://members.xoom.com/T3C
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(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------