[simondotau]

In terms of software, commercial quality software is now often free and/or open source. Maybe the best application software is still expensive, but free software is better than anything that existed a two decades ago let alone four decades. The only people deploying Windows Server these days are doing so for legacy reasons, not by choice.

In terms of hardware, a Macintosh Plus vs a MacBook Neo. The latter is many orders of magnitude superior in any metric you could possibly imagine, and it's 1/10th the price in real dollars. Even if you insist on a "serious" laptop it's still 1/4th the price.

  Year Example                  Price   Real 2026
  ---- ----------------------- -------- ----------
  1986 Compaq Portable II (286)  $3,500   $10,700
  1996 Dell/Gateway Pentium 166  $2,500    $5,300
  2006 Dell XPS (Core 2 Duo)     $2,200    $3,650
  2016 Dell XPS 15               $1,500    $2,100
  2026 Dell XPS 14/16            $2,000    $2,000

  Year Example                  Price   Real 2026
  ---- ----------------------- -------- ----------
  1986 Macintosh Plus            $2,599    $7,900
  1996 Power Macintosh 7200      $2,000    $4,300
  2006 20" iMac                  $1,699    $2,800
  2016 13" MacBook Pro           $1,699    $2,360
  2026 14" MacBook Pro (M5)      $1,999    $2,000

  Year Example                  Price   Real 2026
  ---- ----------------------- -------- ----------
  1986 Novell NetWare            $3,000    $9,100
  1996 Windows NT Server 4.0     $1,100    $2,400
  2006 Windows Server 2003       $1,000    $1,660
  2016 Windows Server 2016         $900    $1,250
  2026 Linux                         $0        $0

  Year Example                  Price   Real 2026
  ---- ----------------------- -------- ----------
  1986 Early pro NLE systems    $50,000  $152,000
  1996 Adobe Premiere 4.2          $800    $1,700
  2006 Final Cut Pro             $1,000    $1,660
  2016 Final Cut Pro X             $300      $420
  2026 Da Vinci Resolve              $0        $0

And all of these tables are actually unfair because the newer stuff is way, way, way, way better than any of the older stuff. If we were being fair, the old computers should be absolute top-of-the-line models and the 2016/2026 models should be a Raspberry Pi.

[pjmlp]

A Macintosh Plus was only affordable under university student discounts in Portugal, and hardly seen anywhere.

MacBook Neo is a nothing to talk about with its 8 GB and phone motherboard, I specifically mentioned "A proper PC or Apple device, proper being the keyword, not throwaway gear under 500 €, is as expensive as always, when buying hardware with 5 to 10 years expected lifetime in a professional setting."

Neo isn't such device, my current hardware has 32 GB.

Your examples miss the relation of salaries, life cost and related percentage to hardware prices, per country.

[simondotau]

> A Macintosh Plus was only affordable ...

Exactly my point. Thank you. Computers are so much more affordable now. The remainder of your post seems to be about me mentioning the Neo as an extreme case despite me ultimately ceding to your arbitrary criteria and selecting the M5 MacBook Pro as the point of comparison.

Again, comparing it to a Mac Plus or a 286, or a Pentium 166. Are we even being serious here?

> Neo isn't such device

Absolutely it is, and then some. You're just spoiled by your fancy 32 GB computer because — again, proving my point about affordability — computers are incredibly cheap now and they keep getting cheaper in real terms.

Calling the Neo "throwaway" is an incredibly privileged take. There's no reason to expect it won't have a comparable lifespan to any of the computers listed. It has a fantastic keyboard, comparable to the best laptop keyboards. If you don't agree, that's probably because you don't like laptop keyboards. So don't get a laptop.

You did have one valid point though, the Neo does have a small motherboard. That's unforgivable.

[pjmlp]

Not everyone enjoys FAANG salaries....