Well, *I* had one of the original Compaqs, a "portable" that looked like a sewing machine and weighed 35 lbs. It came with one floppy drive standard. I added a second for extra "disk storage," for the modest price of $450.
My two "loves" were a '64 Chevy Malibu SS and a '66 Olds 442. I really shoulda kept the Malibu. The 442 was a real fright - you never knew what direction you'd be pointing in when you hit 3rd...
Ah yes, then I got married and bought a spanky new '70 VW bug for $1900 - sold it ten years later for $1000.
-Doug
I clearly remember the very first time I saw one, standing brand-new in a parking lot, a lime(?) green color with big whitewalls. Gorgeous car I woulda bought on the spot, `xcept I was only 8 :-) My first was a `74 Dart, for $3.4K. It was kinda opposite to yours, because by then $3K was bargain-basement merchandise: the only options on mine were an auto tranny (but no power steering), radio, front wheel disk brakes, and seat belts for the back seat.
About 8 years ago I was driving my youngster to preschool and giving her the "Back in my day. . ." talk. After winning her pity for having grown up without phones that weren't tethered to the wall and cartoons only on Saturday mornings, I explained that in my younger days computers were as big as the house we were passing. Without missing a beat, she wondered, "How did you get it out of the store?"
I had my first CD player in high school, and my first car was front wheel drive and got 36 MPG.
Barry
I've been watching this thread with bemused interest. In my own industry (film & TV production) we are witnessing an evolution of technology (so-called "high definition") that is bringing about an overall lessening of quality. But the marketing departments, under pressure from the owners (stockholders), have mounted a campaign to convince consumers that they are getting something better than they've ever had. As a result, we (those of us use the technology to produce product as well as all of us who consume the end product) are being saddled with an immature technology that offers a fraction of its potential, does not equal what it is replacing, and will never be allowed to develop fully because of the expectation of return on investment. If the producer/marketers can bamboozle a generation of audiences, nobody will remember what was lost and will happily accept the crap that is served to them.
Ian
I don't think the investment factor comes into it.. more like the cost of living/income thing.. In the 70's, I remember making $3.50 an hour as a mechanic in a factory, and buying a "good" table saw blade for about $10.. The same job now, in the same area, would pay at least $50 an hour and the saw blade is now $30 to $50 (comparing quality range of craftsman level good blade) so it seems to me that looking at how hard you hard and long you have to work to buy tools has dropped a lot and the quality of the tools in most cases has improved.. (the "craftsman best" blade in the 70's was NOT carbide or even the hi tech steel that came later)
sort of like showing the grand kids the old album collection... they wanted to know where we got those " huge cd's" (proud owner of several small block chevy's)
So was mine. An Austin Mini.
Dave O'H oheareATmagmaDOTca
Barry responds:
To be pitied. If it wouldn't break the wheels loose in second gear at over 70 MPH, it wasn't worth driving (3 speed column shift).
Charlie Self "Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good." H. L. Mencken
Yah. '68 Barracude 340S, 4 on the floor (big deal back then as you recall), fastback, a true Chrysler Corp. POS as far as quality went, including the lousy wide oval tires that lasted 5000 miles if you took it easy, but a bolt of lightning in a straight line if it was running at all.
Charlie Self "Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good." H. L. Mencken
Yeah, well my Chevy was the bargain, 'case I really, really, really wanted the Mercedes Gull Wing, but, IIRC, it cost something like $5600 or $5800. Big bucks for that era.
Charlie Self "Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good." H. L. Mencken
Ian Dodd states:
But it doesn't matter, does it, given the quality of the shows that are aired?
My TV set would cost no more than $180 to buy today, if that. I need to get a new antenna, but don't care enough to climb on the roof, so we can't watch on rainy or windy days. Probably not on snowy days either.
Charlie Self "Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good." H. L. Mencken
Here's what RAND thought a home computer would be in 2004.
Perhaps it's just me, but I really don't think they should. My carpenter's square doesn't do that, and I rarely need to remove the combo head on that. On the other hand, to use any of the three heads on the combination set the other two need to be removed- what are you supposed to do to keep the screws in place, duct tape them everytime you use the tool? I guess someone somewhere along the line figured they could save a tenth of a cent by eliminating a washer inside. Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
My first computer was an Apple //e. Whoo-hoo! I remember the 5 1/4" floppy drives and running everything off a command prompt- unless you were ambitious and made a menu for your programs. A lot of times, you couldn't find programs for the sucker, so it was easier and more useful to get the magazines with printed copies of source code and type them in line by line. It was really funny (in retrospect) how I would argue with my friends over the merits of Hi-Res Vs. Lo-Res. I can print letters smaller than a Hi-Res pixel today.
However, a computer is not a woodworking tool (unless you count forums like this) Granted, the tools today may have a whole lot more features and gizmos stuck to them, but I'd take an old piece of iron over a piece of plastic anyday when choosing what I'd want to hold a cutting surface spinning at several thousand RPMs. Some of you guys have some very good points about the newer tools, but it still doesn't seem to me like they make them like they used to...
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
Prometheus responds:
They don't. In some cases, that's good. In others, that's bad. Can you imagine your great-granddaddy and Lie-Nielsen planes, or Veritas planes, though? Can you imagine him picking up and using a 14.4 volt cordless DeWalt drill? Lots of plastic in the latter, and almost none in the two former examples.
Charlie Self "Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good." H. L. Mencken
Loved that photo. Got it from a daughter earlier this week and sent it out to friends and family. A former colleague pointed out that snopes.com considered it bogus; a photo of a submarine mockup at the Smithsonian with a typewriter and a geezer superimposed. Neat photo though. See
Another colleague from Goddard indicated that his distribution of that photo included some Library of Congress folks who got very interested in its pedigree. Tugging at my collar, I had to explain and apologize. Yaaahoo, did it again!
mahalo, jo4hn
;-) I saw it on the innernet, it has to be true! Thanks for the link to snopes.
-- Mark
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