Author: paul
Date: 1999-07-06 22:00
Dee:
True. Many things have held steadier prices than others throughout the years. Many things are much cheaper today than yesterday. Conversely, many things are much more expensive, mainly due to inflation, than they were decades ago. My initial premise is exactly what was mentioned in your previous response. Some things have gotten much cheaper throughout the years, but other things have not.
A loaf of plain bread cost 5 cents back then and now it's about a dollar - a twentyfold increase. How much was a good car worth brand new then versus today? Be fair and take out the a/c, ABS, ps, pb, etc., but you can still make a reasonable comparison. About $500 back then versus about $15,000 today. Isn't that about 30 times the price? Now, take a decent pro grade clarinet. What was the going retail price of a pro soprano clarinet in the 1940s? What is the price today? Is it about a tenfold increase?
How many hours would someone have to work to earn that $2 drill book back then at say, 10 cents per hour? 20 hours of work dedicated to the task. Compare it to today's price of the same product and the minimum wage today. It's about 2 to 3 hours of labor to reach the same goal, which is a tenfold improvement. Let's look at it another way. Take the 20 hours times the going minimum wage of $6/hour and you have $120. Oops, I forgot income taxes and other deductions. Add about 30 percent more to make up for these losses. Now, we are talking over $150! Now, is my initial guess so far off the mark? That's my point. Either way you look at it, the retail price of a drill book has decreased by about ten times over 50 years. What a bargain!
As for the prices of software, of course the more specific the application, the more expensive the price. I was making a very light allusion to the concept of music composers of say 100 plus years ago to software programmers today. Both of them are valued by society by making complex works on paper for all to benefit from. Both are paid handsomely for their products. Both sets of products, if designed well in the first place, last a long time and survive through the ages. Thanks for picking up the light hint in your response.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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