[ssafejava]

Computers DO get cheaper every year. That Core 2 Duo machine you bought in 2006 might have cost $2000, but those components (if you can even find a place to buy them) would likely cost about $300 today.

It's unfair to say that they don't get cheaper considering that a Mac Mini is an entirely different class of machine from an Apple II, in so many ways that it's ridiculous to even try to list them here.

As for your statement about $570 vs $200... what do you base that on?

[protomyth]

No, computers in the same price range are more powerful. The price range for computers under $200 has disappeared. The Mac mini and Apple II inhabit the same price range. You can get more power in the same price range next year but that same power never trickles down to the price ranges that disappeared in the 90's.