Getting a bit cheap

There are products that keep getting cheaper and better. Mobile phones and digital cameras to name two. But nothing beats personal computers in delivering the twin benefits of falling prices and rising quality year after year. Here’s how their prices have moved:

Then
In 1998, Rs 51,000 got us this:
15” CRT monitor; 400 mhz Pentium II processor; 8 GB hard disk; CD Rom, floppy drive; 64 MB Ram; 33 kbps modem; UPS

Now
For about Rs 35,000 we can get:
19” TFT monitor; 3 ghz Quad Core processor; 250 GB hard disk; DVD writer; 2 GB Ram; wi-fi enabled with UPS

Then
If computer prices keep falling at the same rate, a better configuration may cost you Rs 12,000 in 2018.

Computers now define the way we work, shop, invest, trade, study and keep in touch with loved ones. For many people, they have replaced the newspaper, music system, TV, and even the phone. Clearly, this is one investment you can’t go wrong with.