>A trip down memory lane -- my first PC was an IBM XT. It had a 10 MB hard drive, an ultra low res display, and a clock speed so low I can't even remember what it was. I paid an extra $2000 for an NEC Spinwriter printer. Oh, let's not forget the floppy drive that used real floppies and sounded like a lathe. Total cost: over $7000. And I was still delighted to have the power of a computer sitting on my desk. I'll take now <g>.

In spring 1984, it took a LOT of shopping for me to get the above cost down to $7,300 -- including
settling for a DEC Rainbow (ugh!) instead of IBM. IIRC, IBM was more like $9K.