<\/p>\nPrice trend for a typical Panasonic 42″ LCD TV over
\nthe past nine months. High, median, low.<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n
And we all know the story about CD and DVD players. As an avid classical music fan, I simply had to have a CD player and spent no less than $1,000 on my Hitachi 1000 in 1983. It works to this day and something far better\/faster\/etc. can be had for …. $50 or less.<\/p>\n
Hard disk drives are the worst offenders. My 60gB which came with the MacBook was replaced with a 160, then a 250 and now a 500gB version. Prices? How about $100, $100 and $80, respectively? And that’s all within 18 months. And for mass storage, you can now get 2 terabytes<\/i> in a properly fan cooled enclosure for under $400. I know as I have 8 terabytes’ worth!<\/p>\n
As for flash memory and RAM, who on earth would want to be in those businesses? Every time I use my crappy old Olympus C5050 for a snap for this site, I am reminded that the 256 megabyte CF card it uses ran me over $130, 7 years ago. By contrast, the 2 gB CF card in my 5D now retails for under $25.<\/p>\n
Then, take the Canon 5D. An outrageous $3,000 for the body when announced 3 years ago. Now its better\/faster\/etc. replacement, the 5D Mark II, is expected to retail for $2,600. Meanwhile, lightly used 5Ds sell for $1,300 and falling. I would have bought a used one when acquiring mine a couple of years ago but they were nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n
Could I have waited another year for the TV or two years for the camera? Maybe and no. While the TV was a luxury, this avid photographer, well and truly sick of the process\/scan\/retouch cycle dictated by film, found there was no alternative to the 5D. It’s not that I care for Canon. Frankly, brand means little to me. But I do care for full frame sensors and half decent lenses at reasonable prices. Plus, realizing that used prices of even the best film cameras would come crashing down – because of cameras like the 5D – I decided then and there to unload all that Leica and Rollei gear, making my net investment in my 5D + 7 Canon lenses about as close to zero as you can get. Actually, I made money on the deal. Why anyone would buy near-obsolete film gear beats me, but I trust it made some loony collector happy somewhere.<\/p>\n
Frankly, I simply cannot see improving on the quality of the 18″ x 24″ prints from my 5D originals, but two years hence when the 5D Mark II is selling for $1,000 on the lightly used market, thanks to the better\/faster\/etc. 5D Mark III, I may just snap one up. Anyway, I’ll need another body while Mark I is at Canon to have all the garbage removed from the finder system, thanks to Canon’s non-existent dust sealing in that model. If they will even deign to accept it for overhaul, that is.<\/p>\n
\nRecent 5D selling prices.<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No bottom in sight. Right before this year’s Superbowl, that annual orgy of advertising and steroid fueled ‘athletes’, I though it would be pretty smart to buy a nice big screen TV. I have no earthly intention of watching this ridiculous spectacle masquerading as sport, but a ‘Superbowl Special’ is a ‘Superbowl Special’. So I … Continue reading The amazing technology price spiral<\/span>