4 ms·

Home computers in the eighties weren't that expensive. That was the whole point – you could actually have a computer in your home now. Kids got them for Christm

by haakon 5y ago

Home computers in the eighties weren't that expensive. That was the whole point – you could actually have a computer in your home now. Kids got them for Christmas.

flomo 5y ago
Yes and no. "Computers are the future", so middle class parents felt like they HAD to buy their kids a cheap Commodore or something. I think 80% of them ended up in the closet, most of them were used like game consoles and maybe 1% of them created assembly language programmers. I know successful engineering people who had no interest in atari/commodore video game stuff. Meanwhile, college students needed real work computers which were still quite expensive then. PC-XT/Mac Plus computers were not cheap in the late 1980s.
- nobodyandproud 5y ago
  I remember looking longingly at thick color catalogs of computers I could never afford. Like $4999 for a mid-priced Wang PC compatible. In the 1980s. A lot of money back then. An unimaginable amount for a poor, inner-city kid growing up during that time. It convinced my parent to buy a C64, as they must have felt sorry for me.
- vmception 5y ago
  So like today
zozbot234 5y ago
Do the math. They really were that expensive in today's money. Of course you had cheaper alternatives for the home like the C64 and even more so the ZX Spectrum, but that flimsy toy would still set you back several hundred dollars in inflation-adjusted prices.
- adamauckland 5y ago
  Amiga was £399 in 1989 in the UK, which is about £1000 in today's money. I expect they were cheaper in the US, but £1000 is fairly reasonable for a computer.
  - flomo 5y ago
    Good deal from a company obviously swirling around the bowl who sold computers through the mall ninja store. Great games! Meanwhile, their university presence was just about nil. If you weren't a gamer, you probably didn't know Amiga existed.
    - killtimeatwork 5y ago
      For some reason (perhaps affordability?), Amigas were much bigger in Europe than in the US.
    - BBC-vs-neolibs 5y ago
      IMHO you knew, but you scoffed that it couldn't do serious computing like an IBM. It could only handle games. Some didn't realise that games are pretty taxing on the hardware, but I need to let that go, it's been three decades now. :)

by haakon 5y ago

Home computers in the eighties weren't that expensive. That was the whole point – you could actually have a computer in your home now. Kids got them for Christmas.

flomo 5y ago

Yes and no. "Computers are the future", so middle class parents felt like they HAD to buy their kids a cheap Commodore or something. I think 80% of them ended up in the closet, most of them were used like game consoles and maybe 1% of them created assembly language programmers. I know successful engineering people who had no interest in atari/commodore video game stuff. Meanwhile, college students needed real work computers which were still quite expensive then. PC-XT/Mac Plus computers were not cheap in the late 1980s.

nobodyandproud 5y ago
I remember looking longingly at thick color catalogs of computers I could never afford. Like $4999 for a mid-priced Wang PC compatible. In the 1980s. A lot of money back then. An unimaginable amount for a poor, inner-city kid growing up during that time. It convinced my parent to buy a C64, as they must have felt sorry for me.
vmception 5y ago
So like today

zozbot234 5y ago

Do the math. They really were that expensive in today's money. Of course you had cheaper alternatives for the home like the C64 and even more so the ZX Spectrum, but that flimsy toy would still set you back several hundred dollars in inflation-adjusted prices.

adamauckland 5y ago
Amiga was £399 in 1989 in the UK, which is about £1000 in today's money. I expect they were cheaper in the US, but £1000 is fairly reasonable for a computer.
- flomo 5y ago
  Good deal from a company obviously swirling around the bowl who sold computers through the mall ninja store. Great games! Meanwhile, their university presence was just about nil. If you weren't a gamer, you probably didn't know Amiga existed.
  - killtimeatwork 5y ago
    For some reason (perhaps affordability?), Amigas were much bigger in Europe than in the US.
  - BBC-vs-neolibs 5y ago
    IMHO you knew, but you scoffed that it couldn't do serious computing like an IBM. It could only handle games. Some didn't realise that games are pretty taxing on the hardware, but I need to let that go, it's been three decades now. :)