Today’s technology is not expensive

Sometimes digital technology feels expensive.

By historic standards, it is anything but.

In the 1980s a business microcomputer cost close to the annual average take home salary. In the 1990s most workers would need to toil for months to buy a basic PC.

According to Statistics New Zealand the average weekly household income in the first half of 2015 was $882.

That means New Zealand household on average income could earn enough for, say, a $2000 i5 Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and a $200 Type Cover in less than three weeks.

The Surface Pro 4 is a swept-up business computer. If you spent that much, you’d expect to be productive and quickly earn enough extra to pay for it.

A better example is the Chromebook. A decent one costs about three days’ take home pay. That’s not chicken feed for a typical New Zealand family, but nor is it prohibitive.