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No, it doesn't. Electronics is pretty much a deflationary market, and it's hot. Think about it, if you wait a year, you can buy the same PC or a smartphone for

No, it doesn't. Electronics is pretty much a deflationary market, and it's hot. Think about it, if you wait a year, you can buy the same PC or a smartphone for much less. Yet people buy them like mad. Deflationary grinds stupid chachki markets to a grind maybe. The stuff that pollutes the planet.

woodruffw 5y ago
These two points are in conflict: the mass electronics market is the stupid tchotchke market, which you’ve correctly observed is hot despite decreasing unit costs. Edit: This can be explained by the disconnect between unit price (which is indeed decreasing for consumer electronics) from unit value (which is relatively stable for consumer electronics, especially post-Moore). Consumers don't care if their laptop is "worth" 40% less YoY if the laptop they hold off for is only 0.5% faster. So it's not clear where the deflation is.
- bufferoverflow 5y ago
  > the mass electronics market is the stupid tchotchke market No, it's not. Very few people can afford to buy new smartphones/laptops/TVs for fun. Most consider their purchase for a while, choose the right model, and then use it for a few years. Most people use these tools daily, hourly even. These are not random tchotchkes. But pretty much everyone can buy some dumb dollar store toy for their kid, only for the kid to play with it once or twice and lose all interest.
  - xapata 5y ago
    Has your life really changed that much since computers? I guess I have a different career, but in most respects it's about the same. These things are addictive little tchotchkes I can't seem to put down. My wife was just complaining about the Nest products I buy and then never take out of the box.
    - bufferoverflow 5y ago
      Yes, didn't everyone's life change since computers? They are everywhere, they govern pretty much all aspects of our lives. It's hard for me to name a niche that they haven't permeated.
      - xapata 5y ago
        In many ways, life today is the same as it was 2000 years ago. It's hard to decide what axes to use to measure similarity/distance in the space of human experience.

woodruffw 5y ago

These two points are in conflict: the mass electronics market is the stupid tchotchke market, which you’ve correctly observed is hot despite decreasing unit costs. Edit: This can be explained by the disconnect between unit price (which is indeed decreasing for consumer electronics) from unit value (which is relatively stable for consumer electronics, especially post-Moore). Consumers don't care if their laptop is "worth" 40% less YoY if the laptop they hold off for is only 0.5% faster. So it's not clear where the deflation is.

bufferoverflow 5y ago
> the mass electronics market is the stupid tchotchke market No, it's not. Very few people can afford to buy new smartphones/laptops/TVs for fun. Most consider their purchase for a while, choose the right model, and then use it for a few years. Most people use these tools daily, hourly even. These are not random tchotchkes. But pretty much everyone can buy some dumb dollar store toy for their kid, only for the kid to play with it once or twice and lose all interest.
- xapata 5y ago
  Has your life really changed that much since computers? I guess I have a different career, but in most respects it's about the same. These things are addictive little tchotchkes I can't seem to put down. My wife was just complaining about the Nest products I buy and then never take out of the box.
  - bufferoverflow 5y ago
    Yes, didn't everyone's life change since computers? They are everywhere, they govern pretty much all aspects of our lives. It's hard for me to name a niche that they haven't permeated.
    - xapata 5y ago
      In many ways, life today is the same as it was 2000 years ago. It's hard to decide what axes to use to measure similarity/distance in the space of human experience.