When the 20th century dawned, automobiles were rarer than were exceedingly rare millionaires. If you had a car in 1900 it was a sign of your immense prosperity. Goodness, if you actually knew someone who owned a car you ran in high, high circles.
In 1970 Dallas-based Texas Instruments released the first pocket calculator. This adding and subtracting machine that is standard on the internet and the most basic of smartphones today, set you back $400 when the “Me” decade began. As for computers, by now most readers are aware that the first ones put on the market by IBM in the 1960s cost over $1 million despite them possessing a microscopic fraction of the capabilities found in computers retailing for under $200 today.
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