[alentred]

With respect... I am surprised such a low-quality analysis is published on stanford.edu . What is compared here? What is the purpose of this? What are the conclusions of the analysis? Heck, where is the analysis? By what logic are the prices per GB(!) comparable between 1960(!) and 2026?

I am sorry to being rude, I just don't understand this publishing beyond getting the media exposure.

[6thbit]

Likely your expectations are mismatched because this is just data and not an analysis.

[arter45]

Let f(t) be the price of RAM per GB from 1960 to 2026. Let F(t) be the price of RAM per byte in the same period.

At every point in time t, f(t) is the price per 1 GB of RAM which is 1GB/1B times the price per byte of RAM.

Because 1GB/1B is non-zero, it follows that f(t)=1GB/1B F(t).

It also follows that ratios are preserved, ie

f(t1)/f(t2)= 1GB/1B F(t1)/F(t2)

As long as f(t2) is non-zero, which in this context is never the case.

Visually, the two graphs are the same except scale is different.