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Not only that but his other example (cars) is ludicrous. Cars are by far, without a doubt, cheaper, safer, better made, more reliable, and more feature-laden t
by liber8 14y ago
Not only that but his other example (cars) is ludicrous. Cars are by far, without a doubt, cheaper, safer, better made, more reliable, and more feature-laden than at any point, ever. For $12k (roughly 1/4 the median income), you can get a brand new, pretty decent car.
Also, just about everything else (save maybe gas) is much cheaper and more plentiful today than 30 years ago. The Russian athletes and dancers who came here to compete/perform in the 70's and 80's told many tales of being awed by common supermarkets. I think if you took Americans from the 80's and brought them to a Costco, they might not be awed, but they'd be pretty surprised.
- JamisonM 14y agoAlthough he opens mentioning buying a car in 1986 what he actually says is that cars have pretty much matched the rate of inflation. Seems to me he is saying cars are about as good a deal today as they were back then. I do not find that ludicrous. The other point to be made about cars is that all those improvements do not really matter that much in terms of the value you are getting out of them, cars in the '80s got you from point A to point B just like a brand new one does today. (To be completely off topic I would add that computerization in the modern cars has always been a concern for me, when a 2012 car's computer starts acting up in 2032 what are we going to do with them? I have a late-ninties highway tractor and every time I have a wiring problem with it I am pretty worried it will become more expensive to fix than it is worth despite being mechanically sound.)
- learc83 14y ago>The other point to be made about cars is that all those improvements do not really matter that much in terms of the value you are getting out of them. Cars today on average run much longer than cars did 30 years ago, the get better gas mileage on average, and go longer between scheduled maintenance. How is that not added value?
- JamisonM 14y agoFor one thing the better gas mileage is not much of an improvement from the mid-eighties, gas was much cheaper then ('78-'84 prices were high, inflation-adjusted still not as high as right now though except maybe in 1981). If you buy a new car and your issue is capital or cash-flow how long the car lasts will not be a significant factor in your purchase. Don't get me started on car maintenance! You can hardly touch a modern car anymore yourself, you pretty much have to pay someone to do anything. But I will concede that a modern car needs a lot less work.
- Daniel_Newby 14y ago> ... when a 2012 car's computer starts acting up in 2032 what are we going to do with them? The same place you get a computer for a 1982 car: a salvage company. Whenever a car rusts out, gets totally wrecked, and so forth, the specialty parts are stripped and warehoused.
- JamisonM 14y agoThis is what is sad about it, are we now building cars that could last forever but their electronics will end up making them disposable? I hope not. Sending an otherwise good car to a wrecker because the little (and not very powerful) computer can not be replaced seems very inefficient. Is someone figuring out how to make commodity platforms for cars yet?
- Daniel_Newby 14y agoThe electronics are generally very reliable. I have only had difficulty replacing electronics once, on a 1972 Mercedes, and that could have been worked around if the car had been worth saving. Which is the real point. When a once-popular model becomes hard to repair, it is much more economical to buy a 10 year old used car than to keep the "antique" running. Driving a car older than you are is only for broke teenagers and rich hobbyists.