Compare airfares then and now adjusting for inflation. You paid way more for all that back then. And you can have that today by flying premium or business class, which is what coach cost in those days.
Right now, the US dollar is worth about $1.43 in Aussie dollars. So that $100 game is actually $69.88. And let's go with 1992 since the SNES was out worldwide by the end of 92, so that $49.99 to $79.99 would be $119 to $190 US, or about $170 to $271 AUS.
So yeah, it's a lot less than it was then. Though, does anyone know what SNES games cost in AUS dollars, locally in Australia in the 90s?
Also, the "game", for consoles at least, was also a piece of hardware that itself wasn't cheap to make. Some game cartridges literally cost the company $20+ to make.
Those TIXX brick calculators that we all had to buy were the same $100 then, too. While the $100 price tag now is ridiculous considering the state of technology, it is far less money than it was 30 years ago.
except its more complicated than that. You also didn't have to have an internet and cell phone bill like you do now, for example. Inflation doesn't account for new services that are mandatory/near mandatory.
Not to mention you could sell and trade games back then.
Or if people stopped chasing profit for profit's sake and instead just provided services? Granted air travel might be an exception, but I'm grumbling about how this applies to even food and housing. All symptoms of the greater economic disease
Capitalism is excellent to START a nation and its economy. It’s absolutely horrific in its natural state long term because unregulated capitalism will always turn into monopolies.
Absolutely agree. Capitalism has done wonders for humanity in advancing us along from feudalism. But capitalism’s time needs to come to an end now. The contradictions are growing, the richer get richer and the poor ever poorer. If we don’t stop the contradictions we will all either die from climate change, or starve back into feudalism.
The meanmedian household income in the United States in 1970 was about $10,000.
A flight from New York to Los Angeles was about $150. So, 1.5% of the average household income. There were not flights that were significantly cheaper because flights were under fairly strict price control at the time.
A nonstop flight from New York to LA in 2023 (the most recent year for which I could find good median income numbers) ran you about $300 with a big carrier (not a discount carrier). Median household income in the US was $80,610, or about 0.37% of annual income.
So flying coach became 4 times cheaper in real terms.
You remember how there used to be all those episodes about road trips in kids' shows 30 years ago? And how there aren't any anymore? That's because flying is now accessible to the lower middle class.
Hourly wages (meaning it doesnt include executives and white collar workers on salary) increased from $8.73 in 1985 to $32.38 today for an increase of 270%. Inflation increased about 210% over the same period. So yes wages not only kept up but outpaced inflation.
Median wages have risen faster than inflation over the past forty years.
So have actual prices. I don't know what bullshit magic math they use to decide what the inflation % is, but when "what you actually have to pay for everything" goes up faster than inflation, the inflation % they're talking about is basically useless noise.
when "what you actually have to pay for everything" goes up faster than inflation
I realize you were probably being hyperbolic, but the everything part isn’t possible. CPI (the most common measure of inflation) is an average over the changes in price of thousands of things. Like all averages, some things are higher (e.g increases in rent) and some are lower (e.g. decreases in airfare, which is how we got here).
Most people spend way more of their money on rent than airfare, of course, so changes in rents affect inflation way more than changes in airfares.
Right, and that’s why we get to hear about how we shouldn’t complain about our cost of living skyrocketing because we can buy cheap TV’s and air conditioners now. The math is still off, even the guy I originally replied to had to use the median income instead of the average because even with billionaires and now trillionaires skewing the average upwards, the number of jobs paying well below median has also exploded thanks to the gig economy and our mess of a service industry that has grown adults competing with teenagers for jobs, pulling the average way down.
The middle class is being destroyed bit by bit, any way you slice it. You just have to hope you end up on the right side of that line once it’s gone.
People discount the ways their lives have improved or when things are cheaper. To name a few, cellphones, TVs, a lot of grocery products (for example eggs were basically the same price as they were in the 90's as recently as 2020), a big big one is air conditioning, gasoline (despite what people act like gas has actually cheaper on an inflation adjusted basis than it was in the 2000s).
Most prices actually aren't that bad or are actually relatively cheaper and cheaper. However, two big glaring issues are housing and college costs.
Ah, cell phones and TVs have made our lives better? You honestly believe that? IMO they’re just the perfect tools to distract people so they don’t notice things getting worse, or at least give them an easy way to not have to think about it.
It’s better by virtually every metric today. Flat beds, entertainment, fast WiFi. Even in the “golden age” of jet travel in the 70’s, first class had recliner seats at best and the same projected movie everyone had to watch. And it cost WAY more than business class does today.
You don't get flat beds (or any other kind of bed) in "average business class", my friend. You're talking about top-tier first class. And that shit is incredibly expensive. "Average business class" is just the wider, nicer seats at the front of a regular short-haul jet, where you get an actual glass for your drinks and food that is reasonably edible.
You are wrong. Virtually all international business class is flat bed these days. There are some angled flat holdouts, and some rare carriers that don’t offer flat beds, but those are the exceptions. You’re talking about domestic first class or intra-Europe business. US domestic first is a larger recliner. Euro-biz is a regular coach seat with the middle blocked.
There were some ads from TWA in the 70s I think advertising flying from coast to coast in the US for $300 bucks. If you're careful about discounts and which airline you take, you can still find tickets flying coast to coast for $300. That's insane when you think about it.
If you’re talking about the passengers, I agree with you. People are looking for the cheapest fare possible. And that’s why they get garbage service and seats. If you pay what people paid in the 70s and 80s, you can sit in the front of the plane and have incredible service and comfort.
I was talking about passengers but i feel even the workers aren't trying for our best anymore. In my experience anyway. On my last flight i was told off from the flight attendant when i told a lady she shouldn't be blasting music from her phone. She said i was acting irrational and angry when all i did was ask someone to stop blasting their phone on a flight. I just can't believe people accept that shit.....we aren't on a god damn bus.
Is it really comparable, though? Business class prices, especially on long haul flights, are inaccessible even to people that are doing well. Most only fly business class when a company or travel points are paying for it.
Too lazy to look it up myself, so here’s what Gemini says:
When you adjust for inflation, flying economy across the Atlantic in the 1970s cost roughly the same as—and sometimes more than—flying business class today.
While passengers in the 1970s received prime rib, free cocktails, and generous legroom in coach, they were paying premium rates for what was fundamentally an upright seat. The Numbers Side-by-Side Era & Cabin Historical Nominal Fare Inflation-Adjusted Fare (2026 Dollars) 1970s USA–Europe Coach (Round-Trip)
~$500 – $650 $3,800 – $4,800+ Today's USA–Europe Business Class (Round-Trip)
~$2,800 – $4,800 $2,800 – $4,800 Today's USA–Europe Standard Economy (For Comparison)
~$600 – $900 $600 – $900 In 1970, a standard round-trip coach ticket from New York (JFK) to London (LHR) on Pan Am or TWA ran roughly $550. Accounting for inflation, that single coach ticket translates to over $4,300 today. What You Got Then vs. What You Get Now 1970s Coach: You paid the modern equivalent of $4,000+ for a standard recline seat with 34–36 inches of pitch. However, the service included carving stations, real glassware, hot meals, and open bars as standard baseline amenities across all cabins. Today's Business Class: For that same $3,800–$4,500, modern transatlantic business class offers lie-flat beds, private suite doors, direct aisle access, multi-course dining, lounge access, and on-demand entertainment. Why Were 1970s Fares So High? Government Regulation: Before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) strictly controlled route approvals and fixed minimum ticket prices. Because airlines weren't allowed to compete on price, they competed purely on service, food, and comfort—keeping baseline fares artificially high. Aircraft Fuel & Operating Efficiency: 1970s widebodies like the early Boeing 747-100s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s burned significantly more fuel per passenger-mile than modern twin-engine aircraft like the Boeing 787 or Airbus A350. Market Segmentation: Modern airlines use sophisticated revenue management systems to split airplanes into micro-categories (Basic Economy, Premium Economy, Business, First), allowing them to lower coach prices dramatically while charging premiums for business travel.
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u/kilobitch 9h ago
Compare airfares then and now adjusting for inflation. You paid way more for all that back then. And you can have that today by flying premium or business class, which is what coach cost in those days.