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I don't think parent necessarily meant "PC" like that, but rather than you needed to buy a pricey device to get into the space. For example, the Atari ST launc

I don't think parent necessarily meant "PC" like that, but rather than you needed to buy a pricey device to get into the space. For example, the Atari ST launched at June 1985 for the price of $800. Adjusted to today's prices (via https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm), that would be ~$2200, which is a lot for most people. So I think the point still stands. The barrier to entry was acquiring the device in order to be able to do anything related to it.

Archelaos 4y ago
In 1994 my Atari ST was already 5 years old. I don't know what such legacy used hardware cost in 1994, but I would guess at least half, if not a quarter, of the launch price in 1985. So in today's money betwen $550 and $1,100. Not little for a teenager or young adult, but not terribly expensive either. However, I would admit, that an Atari ST and a 1,200 baud modem was far from being an ideal setup for getting started with the Internet. I therefore went most of the time to the university's computer lab, where I had my first contact with Unix. But what should you do when the lab was closed ...