Mac at 40

Get over six new iMacs for the time price of one in 1984

Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh in 1984 at a retail price of $2,495. At the time unskilled workers were earning around $5.00 per hour, putting the time price at 498 hours. A new iMac can be bought today for $1,299 and unskilled workers are now earning closer to $16.51 per hour, indicating a time price at 78.7 hours. The time price has decreased by 84.2 percent. A new iMac costs almost 420 hours less than the 1984 model. For the time it took to buy the new Mac in 1984, you can buy 6.33 iMacs today. Mac abundance has increased by 533 percent. This suggests a 4.85 percent compound annual rate, doubling in abundance every 14.4 years.

The 2024 Mac and the 1984 Mac are as different as a Ferrari and a bicycle in terms of speed and features. Ignoring the collector value, how many 1984 Macs would someone have to give you for your 2024 model? Most people would not trade at all. This would suggest the new iMacs are infinitely better than the 1984 model.

Ridley Scott did the first Macintosh ad for the 1984 Super Bowl.

People like Steve Jobs have transformed our world with their creativity, vision, and entrepreneurship. We honor his life and work to lift humanity. Here is Jobs doing his first demo:

Here is another memorable ad that reflected his vision for creative work:

How many Steve Jobs were born today?

We describe the process of transforming scarcities to abundances in our new book, Superabundance, available at Amazon. There has never been a better time to create more life.

Gale Pooley is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute and a board member at Human Progress.