Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/09/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Larry, My Zenith Heathkit CPM machine just rolled over in its grave. -----Original Message----- From: Lawrence Zeitlin [mailto:lrzeitlin@optonline.net] Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 12:20 PM To: lug@leica-users.org Subject: [Leica] Re: Cheap computers and software David, The answer to both questions is YES. Computers are now expendable tools. US Income tax law amortizes them over a three year period. The price of computer hardware has plummeted in the last 20 years. So much so that for equivalent capability systems, current prices are only about 5% of those of two decades ago. I'm writing this on a Mac iBook with a 2 Gz chip, a gigabyte of RAM, an 80 Gb disc and an excellent color screen that cost about $1000 new. The iBook came with a full suite of included software including an excellent operating system, the full iLife package, Appleworks, GraphicConverter and a lot of other stuff. In 1985 I bought a Mac with 128kb RAM, a 16 Mz processor, floppy disc storage and a 9" B&W screen for $2500. And that's when dollars were real dollars. The included software was MacWrite and MacDraw. My handheld pocket calculator has more and faster capabilities than that old Mac. In that same period of time Leica film camera prices rose 300%. The new M8 body costs twice as much as the blazing new four core Mac Pro fitted out with all the bells and whistles. In the same sense, the prices of software have declined. First there is a huge stock of downloadable freeware and shareware for any function. Some of it is trash but some is of exceptional quality. You can duplicate almost any function of the high priced software like MS Office or Photoshop by software which is free or almost free. For image processors using the Mac, GraphicConverter is unsurpassed and is available for pennies. So if you find a computer or a package that will do what you want, the cost burden of switching to new hardware and software is small compared with the utility. Larry Z