Forced Upgrades

Posted by Simon
Jun 14, 2019 at 08:56 AM

satis wrote:

>
>Simon wrote:
> >>Stats on prices are too simplistic.
> >... said the guy who started this by saying, ” Apps are more expensive
>now than ever before” lol :)
> >According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for computer
>software and accessories were 64.37% lower in 2019 versus 2000.
> >In the USA, from December 1997 to August 2015, the Consumer Price Index
>for personal computers and peripheral equipment declined 96 percent. For
>computer software specifically the decline was 63%.
> >I’ve provided information about pricing, and others have pointed out how
>they believes prices have dropped as well. If you have any tangible data
>to support your belief I’d be happy to see it, but suddenly introducing
>“intrusive ads” as a “cost” doesn’t help buttress any argument, IMO.
> >

This is why general stats are a waste of time. You cannot generalise on computer prices. Release dates, time of year, clearances, country you live in, all affect that costing, as do platform and usage requirements. So does if you’re in education or a non-profit. (You cannot replace this with a simple CPI figure, even if politicians like to). These things affect individuals and the amount they pay. For example, I’m in the UK and pay more for apple products than you would in the US and I also pay more for App Store software/subscriptions etc. Recently, my 2013 macair died and replacing it was going to be considerably more than what I paid in 2013 (about £200-£500 depending). The iphone since it’s inception has steadily increased in price (according to Statistica) as have smartphones in general. I do understand that if you’re in the linux/windows camp it is much cheaper to buy hardware, but I’ve been in the macos camp for 12 years and am unlikely to change (although I’m increasingly temped with their price hikes). General stats also don’t account for differences in platform costs. For the last two years I’ve been using a Galaxy Note8 and the Play store prices for apps were considerably cheaper than the iOS equivalents often more than by half. My android expenditure was half my iPhone expenditure for the same time period. Ipad apps are more expensive the iphone apps and the list goes on.

All this goes to show that my outgoings are more now than they have been and will continue to rise.