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How many average home computer users are 1000X more productive with a computer today than they were with a 1980s computer? The CPI is the consumer price index.
by chongli 1y ago
How many average home computer users are 1000X more productive with a computer today than they were with a 1980s computer? The CPI is the consumer price index. It doesn’t cover business uses of computers which take more advantage of the improved performance.
- nradov 1y agoThe CPI doesn't measure productivity so I have no idea what point you think you're making.
- chongli 1y agoNo it measures CPU speed, memory, etc under the assumption that scaling these provide some kind of tangible benefit to warrant the idea that we’re getting “more computer for less money” but these benefits are clearly nowhere even close to a linear relationship with CPU speed. Productivity was an example of a benefit I chose off the cuff but you could choose others. Are today’s video game consoles 1000X more fun than a NES? Given that many people actually prefer old NES games and are even willing to pay inflated prices to collect them suggests the answer is a resounding no.
- nradov 1y agoYou are getting more computer for your money. And only a tiny niche of collectors are foolish enough to waste a lot of money on old video games. You can find the same hobbyist collectors for anything: figurines, model trains, coins, etc. Collectors are economically meaningless.
- chongli 1y agoThe question is not: "are you getting more computer for your money?" The question is: "are you getting (anywhere near) a linear scaling of computer for your money?" Because to me the answer to the second question is a resounding "no" and the strongest evidence of that is all the people walking around with high-end iPhones who can barely afford rent on tiny single-bedroom apartments.
- nradov 1y agoWhether it's a linear scale or not doesn't matter. Different CPI components inflate at different rates. So what.