Amazing advances in consumer products

[cantdrv55]

I just bought a 4Gb flash drive so I can back up my music. The thing only set me back $40 and it wasn't even on sale! I remember when I bought my first PC - it was a 286. I think the hard drive in that thing was measured in Mb and it cost me a couple of grand!

The same thing with digital cameras. My first one was as big as a brick and the resolution was <1 Megapixel costing over $500. I bought my son a new one this past Christmas to the tune of $199 and it's a 6.5 Megapixel Fuji. Better, faster, cheaper all around.

[Joeaksa]

Just saw a 8 gig SD memory card for sale at Fry's for $34.

Love it when the cost of memory comes down. Just waiting to get a Terrabite's worth of storage for the home computer.

Had to chuckle at your comments on the cameras. I was in Hong Kong in 1999 and bought a state of the art Olympus 2.1 megapixal digital camera for $750. Used it for years and it was a nice camera. Now you can buy the same thing that is a 10 megapixal unit for under $150 and weighs about half.

Progress is indeed very nice.

[Dave L]

just bought this 4GB yesterday for $23.49 and the best thing is the size

[motion]

LOL, I sold a buddy my used Apple 300 baud modem in 1987 for $700. He's still pissed at me.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Electronics is cool but ultimately just toys for grownups. I actually find very little "productive" value to most consumer electonics products. They're fun, but ultimately I don't find that they really enhance my life or make it more "real" or enjoyable the way a good bike ride or drive in the 911 does.

I never thought I'd see the day when I saw something that would depreciate faster than a Boxster, but take a look at virtually anything in Fry's. I honestly don't know how that store stays on top of depreciation, much less stay profitable when half the stuff in there has a value half-life of about three weeks. . .

Don't mean to sound negative or "Ted Kaczynski"-ish, but when I go to Fry's and see the endless parade of lemmings going in the front door in mindless, lust-crazed pursuit of the latest fad, I wonder what our country is coming to. . .

[URY914]

I have a 4GB drive that so small I CAN'T FIND THE STUPID THING! It must have fallen in something. Color me p!ssed.

[M.D. Holloway]

I want one of these...

[djmcmath]

As far as I'm concerned, falling prices in consumer electronics is fantastic. My "fast" machine is several years old already, and is showing no signs of being even remotely outdated. It wasn't top of the line when I spent $500 on it 2 years ago, either.

I agree that there's a greater tragedy here, in that depreciation is fueled by the incredible pace of development, which is fueled by the huge amounts of money that American consumers feel they have to spend on things. The overwhelming majority of consumer products aren't built here in the states, either -- iirc, most of my electronics come from somewhere in Asia.

There was a comment on another thread about how today's Americans would rather have 22" rims than have affordable health care, and that personal responsibility had died. Whether it's 22" rims or mega-sized upconverting super-graphics DVD players with high definition sound, we've definitely become a culture of demanding the latest greatest toys right now.

Dan

[URY914]

That guy with the 22" rims also has the latest 60" Plasma hanging on his wall. Of course the kids have nothing to eat for dinner tonight...

[Mule]

Originally Posted by motion

LOL, I sold a buddy my used Apple 300 baud modem in 1987 for $700. He's still pissed at me.

Apple's got 'em down to $599 now.