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1988 vs. 2008: A Tech Retrospective (MSN article)

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barythrin

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So after fixing someones spyware issue a little while ago and getting asked why I collect vintage computers they sent me this article: http://tech.msn.com/products/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=6328095&page=1 on 1988 vs 2008 as far as technology and prices.

It's interesting although I'm not really sure how they came up with the comparisons they did but whatever. Still interesting to see the inflated equivalent of the prices a lot of us remember back then.

- John
 
That was quite the fascinating read. Thanks for the link. The adjusted for inflation amounts put a few things in a different perspective. Time does distort that sort of thing in my memory. For instance I remember buying both the Intellivision for around $230 and the Colecovision at somewhere between $150 - $200. Now I distinctly remember that being an awful lot of cash to me at the time but it still seems less than the price of those new systems the kids are enraptured with today, both for console and per game. Interesting how the mind works, or fails to in some cases. :p
 
I don't see the sense of the inflation adjust, personally.

Who cares what it is in 2008 dollars? You didn't buy it in 2008, you bought the stuff they listed in 1988.

However, it was quite interesting and even more interesting to see that most of the new stuff looks like it was designed in a wind-tunnel.

I really need an aerodynamically designed cell phone so that I get maximum velocity out of it when it falls that 3 feet (at 32 feet per second squared) to the pavement and breaks into 1000 pieces because it's a cheap piece of crap.

Now, that walkie-talkie sized one looks like it could survive a drop that would turn you into a messy patch on the pavement and would probably have good enough reception so you could dictate your Last Will and Testament when you got sucked out of a DC-9 because the tail engine went nova and took the last third of the plane with it.
 
I've been drawing parallels. We're almost RELIVING 1988 right now

1988 - 16-bit (80286) Processors versus 32-bit (80386) processors
2008 - 32-bit (Pentium 4) processors versus 64-bit (AMD Athlon 64) Processors

Back then we were experiencing a bit-change, and now we are too.

1988 - the average 80286 PC running MS-DOS had a limitation of 1024K of RAM accessable
2008 - the average Pentium 4 based PC Running Windows XP 32-bit has a limitation of 3.5GB of RAM

The reason may be different, but the outcome is still the same. A RAM limitation

1988 - MFM and RLL were on the way out in favor of ESDI and IDE
2008 - EIDE/PATA devices are on their way out in favor of SATA for Hard Disk Storage

Hard disk standards are changing again, it seemed only a year or so ago that EIDE was still pretty common in new computers, now I seldom see a new box that comes with an EIDE drive as standard equiptment, now everyone is using SATA

1988 - The now blue VGA port overtakes the old DB-9 EGA/CGA/Mono port on new machines
2008 - DVI is taking over the ground once held by the little blue DB-15b VGA port

Once again, for the first time since 1988, we're seeing a change in graphics card connections. The ol' VGA/SVGA connection standards sure have had a long shelf life.

I could draw loads more parallels...

And I'm with druid on Aerodynamics? Until I start seeing CPU towers mounted to the backs of planes for some arcane reason, or start seeing cars with a piggybacked Dell Optiplex for some goofball reason (and not on the M.I.T. campus), I don't see why a computer needs to look like an egg on a pedistal....hmm...maybe that's why newegg is called NEW-EGG.

To me, the best technology is usually grey, black, beige, boxy, has loads of vents, externally accessable monitor adjustments, squarish grid-patterns for decoration, are made of steel and ABS plastic, and can be expected to still work after being hurled through 2 layers of drywall.
 
I mostly just found the inflation an interesting thing to do since I had never really considered it, although I can't quite tell how that really works anyway since it doesn't seem like the household income has gone up that much, etc.

However it does allow the realization that the prices now may have been better than back then despite it not seeming like it or visa versa. You can dumb down the numbers from today to numbers back then and compare the top of the line systems to see what the market has done over the years. I had never really thought about the game console prices which I think was one of the cooler comparisons. I just know I didn't have the money back then, course now even if I do have the money I'm not going to spend that amount of money on the stuff hence why I started collecting in the first place. Little $5 - $15 computers that I could never afford before, or Alpha servers that I drooled over getting thrown away now.

- John
 
What I dislike about technology is the depreciation - people (e.g. Bill Gates) have made big money from it! :-(

Who for example would have paid $10,000 for a laptop computer? You could pay something like that 10 years ago - sure it would have been a very upto date machine then, now though you maybe lucky to get $100 bucks for it! :-o

IBM compatables are highly usable and with the amount of people throwing them out, I'm suprised someone hasn't been making some money simply making simple systems with Free Games. Guess it's a market which hasn't been highly reconised - even though it's something I've mentioned before and I think a couple of people here were doing something about it.

CP/M User.
 
The only reason your "free games machine" business wouldn't be that profitable for another 10-15 years is because PC gaming (and video gaming in general) is only now becoming truly mainstream.

For these new gamers, there are no games old enough which they would be interested in playing for nostalgia's sake, let alone become abandonware which you could give it away for free on a machine you were selling without the developers coming after you.
 
TheSmJ wrote:

The only reason your "free games machine" business wouldn't be that profitable for another 10-15 years is because PC gaming (and video gaming in general) is only now becoming truly mainstream.

For these new gamers, there are no games old enough which they would be interested in playing for nostalgia's sake, let alone become abandonware which you could give it away for free on a machine you were selling without the developers coming after you.

Perhaps for the older kids which want a bit more oomph to their games, though young kids which are starting out with Computers don't really need excessive power.

However I must say that Software companies are still making a business marking the classic stuff for the new age computers/consoles - so there's obviously a demand for that as well. Perhaps the closest idea I've seen in relation to the idea I've had with a computer is a console based system which is loaded with classic games.
Who's to say that you can't have some serious free software on an old 486 or Pentium based computer!
I saw one person trying to do this via TV though it didn't work cause the demand was too great and their machines didn't work properly.
 
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