2010 1993 1979 1969 1947 1916 and 1933 had similar costs, about half those of 1947; these fluctuations were caused by WW I and Depression 1898 was also a very low point, but prices before this had been quite stable by today's standards, with 1989 and 1899 being the only two exceptions: which happened to cancel each other out fairly well Thus, approximately, prices in 2010 will be double what is the case in 1993, just as 1993 was double 1979; 1979 which was double 1969, which was double 1947, which was double a spread around WW I and the Depression. With 1993 labeled as "1.00000" the value of a dollar which is expected to be spent in 2010 will be "0.50000" or fifty cents. 2010 $1 buys $0.50 worth of 1993 dollars 1993 $1 buys $1.00 worth of 1993 dollars 1979 $1 buys $2.00 worth of 1993 dollars 1969 $1 buys $4.00 worth of 1993 dollars 1947 $1 buys $8.00 worth of 1993 dollars 1916 and 1933 $1 buys $16.00 worth of 1993 dollars 1898 $1 buys $32.00 worth of 1993 dollars [These are obviously gross approximations: more exact figures are presented below.] Here are some less conservative estimates, from other sources: Based on an estimated 17% increase from 1989 to 1993 [4%/year] Prices doubled as follows: 1982 to 1993 1973 to 1982 1950 to 1973 1993 1.17xxxx 1978 0.573016 1968 0.299207 1946 0.153972 Note fluctuations for WWI, WWII, and Depression: these come close to these doublings, but not for a permanent trend. 1916 0.090478 1915 0.075394 1898 0.047620 Was the lowest trend: which provides for the widest possible span of 1993 1.17xxxx to 1898 0.047620 with prices being some 25 times higher in 1993 than 1898, for price increase of 2400% over those 95 years. THE PROJECT GUTENBERG PRICE INDEX FROM 1875 TO 1989 [With estimates up to and including 2010.] This part contains a short chart of all the prices paid by the Project Gutenberg supporters for drives from 1971 to 1993, and then charts of the Consumer Price Indexes from 1875 to 1989. The Project Gutenberg Drive Price Chart is about one page long and is followed by a series of charts for each year from 1875- 1989, with a few additional estimates for 1990-1993. Many of you have seen the figures I have presented as evidence of the fact that current trends lead to HOLDING THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND WITHIN THE AVERAGE LIFETIME. [Of course if they will let you HAVE the Library of Congress]. These figures range from the first 5 megabyte hard drives used in our very first mainframe, through the first 5M Apple drive, to the same drive running on an IBM, to our current 1.2G drive that cost less than ANY of our previous drives and has storage for twice as much data.