Article: Why You Can't Complain About the Price of Today's Gadgets

[VectorGamer]

http://gizmodo.com/5313690/why-you-cant-co...-todays-gadgets

[rockz1200]

Wow to think what people paid back then... My dad was telling how a VCR player cost $1000+ back in the day! His father worked in the bank so they could afford these types of things. He was also telling how his first computer was the Commodore which cost $800 at the time.

[godslabrat]

Wow to think what people paid back then... My dad was telling how a VCR player cost $1000+ back in the day! His father worked in the bank so they could afford these types of things. He was also telling how his first computer was the Commodore which cost $800 at the time.

 

I still shake my head at people who can't imagine paying $300 for a Blu-Ray player. In the grand scheme of things, technology is a steal at today's prices, unless you're REALLY shopping in the wrong places.

[Facemeat]

Wow to think what people paid back then... My dad was telling how a VCR player cost $1000+ back in the day! His father worked in the bank so they could afford these types of things. He was also telling how his first computer was the Commodore which cost $800 at the time.

 

I still shake my head at people who can't imagine paying $300 for a Blu-Ray player. In the grand scheme of things, technology is a steal at today's prices, unless you're REALLY shopping in the wrong places.

I think the reason why people can't imagine paying that much for a Blu-Ray player is because you can get a DVD player for a tenth of that price. I mean, Blu-Ray (to me) isn't 10 times better than DVD.

[Gregory DG]

Yep, we're livin' in the future all right. But I still want flying cars, transport tubes, and jetpacks...

[atarian63]

I did pay appx $1000 for my first vcr back in the day. Just had to have it!

[godslabrat]

Wow to think what people paid back then... My dad was telling how a VCR player cost $1000+ back in the day! His father worked in the bank so they could afford these types of things. He was also telling how his first computer was the Commodore which cost $800 at the time.

 

I still shake my head at people who can't imagine paying $300 for a Blu-Ray player. In the grand scheme of things, technology is a steal at today's prices, unless you're REALLY shopping in the wrong places.

I think the reason why people can't imagine paying that much for a Blu-Ray player is because you can get a DVD player for a tenth of that price. I mean, Blu-Ray (to me) isn't 10 times better than DVD.

 

It wasn't that long ago that $300 was the going rate for a decent DVD player. But you're right, the focus is always on the lowest-end stuff on the market, which kind of creates a "if it's more than a buck and a half, it's a rip-off" mentality.

[darthkur]

Yep, we're livin' in the future all right. But I still want flying cars, transport tubes, and jetpacks...

 

 

....transporters, large space faring vessels with faster-than-light drives, life expectancy in the multiple hundreds at least.........

[fiddlepaddle]

I remember paying $1000 for my first stereo system (about 1981) with turntable, receiver, cassette tape deck and two big speakers. I then paid about $350 for a CD player in 1983. That's probably close to $3000 in today's money. I think I also paid $700 for two VCRs about 1987 in order to rent movies and tape them so I could watch them again later for "free".

 

Even though they generally flake out a lot sooner, electronics are still a heck of a bargain compared to the good-old-days.

[accousticguitar]

I still shake my head at people who can't imagine paying $300 for a Blu-Ray player. In the grand scheme of things, technology is a steal at today's prices, unless you're REALLY shopping in the wrong places.

I can't imagine why I would want to pay $300 for Blu-Ray player since I already have a DVD player that does the same thing and it didn't cost nearly as much.

[CARTRIDGE STEALER]

I remember paying $1000 for my first stereo system (about 1981) with turntable, receiver, cassette tape deck and two big speakers. I then paid about $350 for a CD player in 1983. That's probably close to $3000 in today's money. I think I also paid $700 for two VCRs about 1987 in order to rent movies and tape them so I could watch them again later for "free".

 

Even though they generally flake out a lot sooner, electronics are still a heck of a bargain compared to the good-old-days.

 

stereos didnt go down much. I paid $900 for a stereo in 1989 and it didnt even come with a cd player! and I paid $1100 for a pansonic camcorder!

[+RevEng]

stereos didnt go down much. I paid $900 for a stereo in 1989 and it didnt even come with a cd player! and I paid $1100 for a pansonic camcorder!

Very true that there's an overlap in the price range of today and yesterdecades. I blame that on the fact that in the mid to high end price range these goods are treated less like a commodity by the consumer, and consequently the manufacturing cost has little to do with the end price.

 

But consider the price of the low-end. It has changed drastically.

 

Today I can buy a digital flip or still camera (with superior video capture compared to an old camcorder) for less than $100. Ditto on the stereo.

 

There were no options at these price points back in the day.

[Lord Helmet]

I still shake my head at people who can't imagine paying $300 for a Blu-Ray player. In the grand scheme of things, technology is a steal at today's prices, unless you're REALLY shopping in the wrong places.

I can't imagine why I would want to pay $300 for Blu-Ray player since I already have a DVD player that does the same thing and it didn't cost nearly as much.

 

Your DVD player plays Blu-Ray disks?? Awesome!

[godslabrat]

I still shake my head at people who can't imagine paying $300 for a Blu-Ray player. In the grand scheme of things, technology is a steal at today's prices, unless you're REALLY shopping in the wrong places.

I can't imagine why I would want to pay $300 for Blu-Ray player since I already have a DVD player that does the same thing and it didn't cost nearly as much.

 

Your DVD player plays Blu-Ray disks?? Awesome!

 

Fuck yeah, man! Tell me which model you have. I'll buy six of them!

[Video]

Wow to think what people paid back then... My dad was telling how a VCR player cost $1000+ back in the day! His father worked in the bank so they could afford these types of things. He was also telling how his first computer was the Commodore which cost $800 at the time.

 

I still shake my head at people who can't imagine paying $300 for a Blu-Ray player. In the grand scheme of things, technology is a steal at today's prices, unless you're REALLY shopping in the wrong places.

I think the reason why people can't imagine paying that much for a Blu-Ray player is because you can get a DVD player for a tenth of that price. I mean, Blu-Ray (to me) isn't 10 times better than DVD.

Exactly, do the math, and it's only 6x the resolution....ONLY if you pay for a 1080PTV (sorry, no matter what people say, I still see no difference on any of my 720P systems)

 

Video's video's video. Resolution doesn't matter much, now if I could get 1080P analog, I'd jump all over that shit (I love LD, just to bad it's not made anymore)

[CGQuarterly]

I think that it's a matter of how useful things are in the grand scheme of things. A Blu-Ray player is a total luxury item that looks a bit better *IF* you have a high quality 1080p TV. Think about how useful a VCR was back when they came out. Before that, you couldn't record stuff off of TV or watch movies at home unless they were being broadcast on TV or you owned a projector and had some means of obtaining movies on reels (and who did that?!?).

 

You can make the same case when talking about video games. The Atari was $300 when it came out, right? That's over $800 today, BUT the Atari was revolutionary at the time. Now, why pay $500 for a Playstation 3 when I can pay less than $100 for a Playstation 2 with a couple of games on Craigslist, or buy a brand new one with a few games for less than $200?

 

Our society has become so inundated with technological doodads than they lose their marginal utility, and thus are not worth as much to us from a monetary standpoint. That's why the DVD player example woks so well. Why pay $300 for a Blu-Ray player when I already own something that does basically the same thing? Now when the VCR came out, there was nothing that did what it did. The same can be said about computers.

 

Chris

[godslabrat]

I think that it's a matter of how useful things are in the grand scheme of things. A Blu-Ray player is a total luxury item that looks a bit better *IF* you have a high quality 1080p TV. Think about how useful a VCR was back when they came out. Before that, you couldn't record stuff off of TV or watch movies at home unless they were being broadcast on TV or you owned a projector and had some means of obtaining movies on reels (and who did that?!?).

 

You can make the same case when talking about video games. The Atari was $300 when it came out, right? That's over $800 today, BUT the Atari was revolutionary at the time. Now, why pay $500 for a Playstation 3 when I can pay less than $100 for a Playstation 2 with a couple of games on Craigslist, or buy a brand new one with a few games for less than $200?

 

Our society has become so inundated with technological doodads than they lose their marginal utility, and thus are not worth as much to us from a monetary standpoint. That's why the DVD player example woks so well. Why pay $300 for a Blu-Ray player when I already own something that does basically the same thing? Now when the VCR came out, there was nothing that did what it did. The same can be said about computers.

 

I realize that the "if you have a 1080p TV" is a big qualifier, but if you happen to meet that qualfier... damn, but it IS totally worth it!

[VectorGamer]

I still shake my head at people who can't imagine paying $300 for a Blu-Ray player. In the grand scheme of things, technology is a steal at today's prices, unless you're REALLY shopping in the wrong places.

I can't imagine why I would want to pay $300 for Blu-Ray player since I already have a DVD player that does the same thing and it didn't cost nearly as much.

 

I'm with you there...DVD is good enough tech for me - if I don't see every pore in Jenna Jameson's body I'm not gonna be like "oh man, DVD is so inferior to Blu-Ray"...

[+RevEng]

I'm with you there...DVD is good enough tech for me - if I don't see every pore in Jenna Jameson's body I'm not gonna be like "oh man, DVD is so inferior to Blu-Ray"...

Yeah, there's only one pore I'm really interested in seeing.