3 ms·

I think the point they are making is that the 'high-end' / cutting-edge is the same price as it has been. You couldn't get $2,300 for a 33MHz machine now, just

I think the point they are making is that the 'high-end' / cutting-edge is the same price as it has been. You couldn't get $2,300 for a 33MHz machine now, just like you can't sell a Galaxy S1 for a $700.

potatolicious 10y ago
Except inflation... "The same price as it has always been" over a long period (like, say, the 90s) is actually a substantial price drop. $1500 in 1995 is about $2300 today. A $1500 computer today is ~35% cheaper than the "same price" computer from before. Having been a gaming rig builder since around that time, high-end performance desktops have gotten way cheaper, with more realistic performance tiers to boot.
dragontamer 10y ago
That's a "Jade" PC. High-end PCs at that time were Compaq computers. Not cheap knockoffs that were made by no-name brands. The Compaq 386 had a launch price of $6500 to $10,000+ http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/10/business/the-executive-computer-a-top-machine-carries-a-top-price.html http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/10/business/the-executive-com... The "Jade" PC you see in that image is probably more comparable to "Gateway" brand now-a-days. Computers are a hell-of-a-lot cheaper today than in the past. EDIT: I looked it up, and I can't believe I forgot about this. Back then, every mom-and-pop store was able to build their own brand of PCs. The clone wars were unstoppable I tell you! Jade Computers was apparently a small business with just a few retail locations running out of California.
- scholia 10y ago
  You can still build your own PC today ;-) Compaq's pricing was clever. If you bought one, everyone knew you bought it because it was better, not because it was cheaper than the IBM model. (And it was better because Compaq was shipping 386 machines when the IBM PC AT still had a crappy 286.)

3 ms·

I think the point they are making is that the 'high-end' / cutting-edge is the same price as it has been. You couldn't get $2,300 for a 33MHz machine now, just

by madelinecameron 10y ago

potatolicious 10y ago
Except inflation... "The same price as it has always been" over a long period (like, say, the 90s) is actually a substantial price drop. $1500 in 1995 is about $2300 today. A $1500 computer today is ~35% cheaper than the "same price" computer from before. Having been a gaming rig builder since around that time, high-end performance desktops have gotten way cheaper, with more realistic performance tiers to boot.
dragontamer 10y ago
That's a "Jade" PC. High-end PCs at that time were Compaq computers. Not cheap knockoffs that were made by no-name brands. The Compaq 386 had a launch price of $6500 to $10,000+ http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/10/business/the-executive-computer-a-top-machine-carries-a-top-price.html http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/10/business/the-executive-com... The "Jade" PC you see in that image is probably more comparable to "Gateway" brand now-a-days. Computers are a hell-of-a-lot cheaper today than in the past. EDIT: I looked it up, and I can't believe I forgot about this. Back then, every mom-and-pop store was able to build their own brand of PCs. The clone wars were unstoppable I tell you! Jade Computers was apparently a small business with just a few retail locations running out of California.
- scholia 10y ago
  You can still build your own PC today ;-) Compaq's pricing was clever. If you bought one, everyone knew you bought it because it was better, not because it was cheaper than the IBM model. (And it was better because Compaq was shipping 386 machines when the IBM PC AT still had a crappy 286.)