[MLUG - DISCUSSION] computer and car prices (was Re: [MLUG])

[Jonathan King <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Mon, 4 Mar 2002, Michael wrote:

> Look at how RAM prices have dropped through the floor too. It's
> fantastic. I have a lot of complaints about life but the price of
> computer components isn't one of them. What you can buy for under
> $1000 now is just amazing. :)
>
> If only the automobile industry could compare. :)

Actually, the auto industry hasn't really been dogging it either (well,
except for getting to sell light trucks with nicer seats etc. as fancy
SUVs for a while, but I digress...).  Back in the day of the $60,000 hard
drive that Mike mentioned, people felt really happy to get 60,000 miles on
their car, and the cars in general were just not very good or very safe.
(Yes, some of them were works of art in the styling department and if
you're into raw horsepower or tinkering with engines then they have
advantages.)  Given the pesky limitations of physics, cars were not able
to suddenly go 100 times as fast or get 1000 times the gas mileage, but
improvement along any other reasonable dimension has been pretty drastic.
More fuel efficient, more powerful (for the same size engine), less
polluting, much better brakes, huge increases in reliability...the list
goes on.

jking


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