1980 prices in today's dollars

[markw]

It's a warm, fuzzy feeling to see old Radio Shack products here.

http://metv.com/stories/heres-what-we-really-paid-for-these-cutting-edge-electronics-in-the-80s

 

[Chu Gai]

So, a buck and a half gas today would have cost you around 50 cents back then. I remember back when I was a kid in the 50's, my father would sometimes come home with three 1 lb. bars of chocolate for a buck.

 

[sterling shoote]

Seems, that today's prices are about three times late eighty's prices on equivalent goods. Thing is, the progress in consumer electronics from mass production to miniaturization of components, i.e. an fm tuner, makes comparison incomprehensible. Interestingly, today's luxury hi-fi components are not expensive for their electronic material content or construction but for their cases, which may be the only divergence from one product brand to another.

 

[Chu Gai]

The thing today is assuring you that you've made a great purchase while a year from now telling you it's obsolete.

 

[Chu Gai]

Taco Bell 1965 menu.

 

[Irvrobinson]

So, a buck and a half gas today would have cost you around 50 cents back then. I remember back when I was a kid in the 50's, my father would sometimes come home with three 1 lb. bars of chocolate for a buck.

And what was his annual income, do you think?

I grew up in the 60s and 70s, and I remember them as the bad old days. Electronics were expensive, cars sucked, pollution in the US was like China is now, racial strife, discrimination against women, what a mess. Air travel was more comfortable though. Not anywhere near as safe, but more comfortable. Airlines didn't hate their customers back then, like they seem to now. Short lifespans. Everyone smoked. Oh yeah, and 70-90% marginal income tax rates if you were talented enough to earn a lot of money. Ugh.

 

[Chu Gai]

Wasn't much, Irv. My father and mother worked in the textile mills before moving on to farming.

 

[markw]

Seems, that today's prices are about three times late eighty's prices on equivalent goods. Thing is, the progress in consumer electronics from mass production to miniaturization of components, i.e. an fm tuner, makes comparison incomprehensible. Interestingly, today's luxury hi-fi components are not expensive for their electronic material content or construction but for their cases, which may be the only divergence from one product brand to another.

Good point. Back "in the day" you could get a 13" color TV for $400. Today, that same $400 would buy you a TV in the 40" range.

Likewise, that $220 wireless phone can be bettered by one for about $20.

Granted, the dollar amount looks like a lot but you get a heckuva lot more for your electronic dollara nowadays.