[Dave]

Thought I would give this a go & see if it works, or dies a death

Every now & again you come across a statistic of something from n years ago & the relevant figure today, that shocks or impresses you. Add a single example to the posts below. All for fun

[Dave]

Creative Computing magazine : December 1981

Prediction: The cost for 128 kilobytes of memory
will fall below U$100 in the near future.

At $100 (£54) for 128 kilobytes, the price of 256 megabytes comes to $200,000. (£108,000) !!

Today, 25 years on, you can buy 256 Megabytes for around £16

[evilowl]

Old computer ads

[orangepeel]

My Dragon32 cost my dad either £300 or £399, can't remember which, all I remember was him moaning and whining about each and every penny.

I take after me dad

[MickB]

In the past decade the number of those with homes worth more than £1million has risen almost 20-fold to 66,000. Ten years ago only 3,400 owned homes which could attract a seven-figure asking price.

Since then, the cost of an average home has trebled from about £60,000 to nearly £180,000. And according to a separate study, the number of property millionaires will keep on rising if house prices do.

Today there is a handful of places in London where the average house price is more than £1m.

In the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, for instance, a detached house costs £3.5m and a terraced house is usually £1.8m. Flats do not sell for less than £530,000.

Makes you sick doesn't it !!

[Steve]

I remember the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 16 and 48K. It was probably this computer that introduced most people to home computers. With its rubber keys and three key selection for complete words it was ground breaking at the time. By todays standards it leaves a lot to be desired but at the time it has a massive following.



Does anyone remember the long loading times for games of the old tape recorders and the constant fiddling with the volume to try and get it to load properly

Manic Minor anyone?

[Steve]

Speaking of Sinclair stuff, I just did a quick search on the C5 (remember those? ) and you'll never guess what I found

The only official supplier of spare for them now offers...wait for it...a turbo conversion

Taken from their website

Turbo conversion - £POA

"The official Harper" 12-24v (24v off road) Turbo conversion, with air cooling. Includes extensive rewiring and modifications to achieve 24v operation.

In this mode the speed is increased from 14mph to 27-30mph, with truly fast acceleration and greatly increased power making most hills fast and easy.

And then for the chavs we have....



A snip at £80 fitted but with a sales line like this who can resist

Neon under car low light (full length, blue).

Be seen at night, looks as if C5 is hovering on an electric blue field.

[Dave]

Stumbled across this - Brixham in 1952

Pint of beer cost 1 and thrupence (6p) and a packet of fags was 2 and 8 (14p).

A new 3 bedroom detached house with garage would set you back £3000. Rates for a 5 bedroom house with a view of Torbay were under £30 a year - and that included the water rates! A small terraced home was about £1,000, the same price as a car, and the average mortgage was £12 a month, but most people couldn't afford to buy property and rented instead. The average wage was about £7 and with a 44 hour week that's 16p an hour. National Assistance for a married couple was £2 10 a week. An OAP had to manage on 32 and six, about £1.65 a week.

What got me was the price of a small terraced house being same as a car !! That car would have to be a £150K supercar these days

[silkstone]

In 1964 my parents sold their three-bed semi in the Wirral for £2600 and bought a similar sized new detached house in Maidenhead, Berkshire for £3900 (which my Dad thought was daylight robbery, but it was/is an expensive area). He was earning about £1200 a year at the time.

I'd guess that the semi would now be worth about £140,000 and the house in Maidenhead over £300,000. But I bet if Dad was still alive and working he wouldn't be on £100,000 a year.

Our first house in Cwmbran - a newish 3-bed semi - cost £9800 in 1975 when I was earning £3200 a year. So that still fits with being able to get a reasonable house for about three times your annual salary. I don't know how youngsters manage to get on the ladder today without mortgaging themselves into an early grave.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by silkstone

I don't know how youngsters manage to get on the ladder today without mortgaging themselves into an early grave.

Funny you should say that, as over a pint this lunchtime with the father in law we were moaning about the price of beer ....£2.86 for a pint of Hienekin !! & wondered who kept paying these prices.

We both came to the conclusion that youngsters today don't stand a chance with the housing market, so suddenly have more disposable income to play with........ Pubs Well I spent any spare money I had down there for god knows how many years, until I found a taste for red wine. £4 for a bottle from tesco's & I'm happy

[orangepeel]

In the 70's I used to get 15p munchie money every day. That bought me a fudge and a packet of polos