[shams93]

Developers outside of the machine learning PHD world don't make that huge an income, especially if you live in a high rent area and are single they tax the heck out of you in california today. Back then people could afford to drop these large amounts on projects because rent was like $125 a month and taxes were very low compared to say modern california. It actually goes to show how an economy that benefits the rentiers has a way of shutting down innovation and experimentation as all resources go to cover the basics.

[encoderer]

There is a pervasive idea that developer salaries in sf and other tech cities only cover the rents, etc. Not at all true. Thousands and thousands of career developers making great wages. It’s not VCs driving real estate prices.

[phendrenad2]

It is true, the salaries keep going up and the rent goes up to match it.

[rhizome]

There's a saying that wage increases are absorbed by landlords.

[kridsdale1]

Not everyone has rents that can rise.

[spannedtheusa]

Rent in SF has been going down a little last I checked.

[spannedtheusa]

My rent is high, but my cost of living isn’t that high relative to everything (not that different from pricier parts of the Midwest). My salary is high to keep the cost of living maintainable, so I don’t become tempted to move back to the Midwest where my rent was medium and my salary was high, and the cost of living was similarly medium.