Many of us nostalgically view the 1980s as a golden era. During this decade, animated Transformers reigned over CGI, original films were commonplace instead of the endless reboots we see now, and documents were safely housed in Trapper Keepers—just the way it should be.
However, before you conclude that life was objectively better in a period known for hair metal, spandex, and She-Ra, it’s crucial to recognize how much we now take for granted that would have been nearly impossible to emulate back then. As it turns out, modern conveniences significantly enhance our lives.
Music at your fingertips
Today, a smartphone like a 32GB iPhone can hold over 8,000 songs, depending on app usage. Moreover, platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music allow you to stream music effortlessly and create playlists of your favorite tracks. This means you can carry a comprehensive music library with you wherever you go.
To enjoy such convenience today, you would spend about $450 on the smartphone and roughly $10 monthly for a music streaming service. Therefore, it would amount to approximately $570 in the first year to enjoy your favorite tracks wherever you are in 2018.
Recreating a similar portable music experience in the ’80s would have posed a significant challenge. Initially, you would need a portable CD player—the Sony Discman debuted in 1985 at about $300, equivalent to nearly $700 in 2018. To have 8,000 songs readily accessible, you would need around 570 CDs, with costs around $15 each back then—nearly $35 today—leading to a staggering total of around $19,950 in CDs just to replicate that music library. Carrying 570 CDs would also be quite impractical.
Thus, in 1985, you would need to spend close to $20,650 in today’s dollars to have the kind of musical access that we often take for granted now. (Also see: Tips for Selecting the Best Music Streaming Service for Yourself)
Mobile phones
The notion of carrying a mobile phone has become so standard that we refer to traditional home phones as landlines. We’re so accustomed to having mobile phones in our lives that specific etiquette has developed around their use, including unspoken rules surrounding texting versus calling.
A modern iPhone X is priced at around $1,000, with typical service costs about $60 a month, resulting in a total expected expenditure of $1,720 annually, factoring in the phone purchase.
In contrast, when the first cellphone hit the market in 1983, it was priced at $4,000—around $10,062 in today’s currency. Early adopters of the Motorola, famously nicknamed “the brick,” faced the limitation of a mere 30 minutes of talk time and just six hours of battery life, without any cellphone plan available at the time.
Video streaming
Netflix streaming has become an integral component of contemporary entertainment culture, with phrases like “Netflix and chill” evolving from a casual activity to a sort of cultural catchphrase. Subscribing to Netflix’s standard plan runs about $10.99 per month, or approximately $132 annually, granting access to over 5,500 titles, which include both movies and TV shows.
Unless binge-watching is a full-time job, watching all 5,500 titles in a year is impossible. However, let’s assume you managed to watch two different titles daily, totaling around 730 titles annually. Back in 1988, local video stores typically charged around $2.50 for each movie rental. Adjusting for today’s dollars, that amounts to about $5.29 per rental, leading to an annual expenditure of roughly $3,862 to watch 730 movies, excluding potential late fees for not returning films like The Breakfast Club or Die Hard on time. (Also see: Essential Must-Haves for Cutting the Cable Cord)
Digital reading
While conventional books are here to stay, e-readers have revolutionized how avid readers transport their literary collections, whether it’s for a beach holiday or while waiting in line. Devices like the Kindle Fire can accommodate around 6,000 books, allowing readers to dive into a new book as soon as they finish the last without needing to visit a bookstore or library.
The Kindle Fire HD 8 is available for about $80, alongside an optional subscription to Kindle Unlimited at $9.99 per month, roughly $120 per year. In total, a dedicated reader could indulge in books for approximately $200 in their first year. If you read one book weekly, or about 52 yearly, that amounts to an average of $3.85 per book.
Conversely, purchasing the same 52 books per year in the 1980s would have been a much costlier affair. In 1985, the price of new books varied from $8.95 to $19.95 (roughly $20.84 to $46.45 in current currency). If buying only the less expensive titles, a reader would spend around $1,083.68 (in 2018 dollars) annually for the same number of books that a Kindle owner could read for a modest $200 today. (Also see: Simple Ways to Access Free eBooks)
Living in today’s world
While there are undoubtedly nostalgic elements from the 1980s—we all miss music videos on MTV—it’s essential to appreciate the tremendous technological advancements we enjoy today, which would have been inconceivable during a time when Max Headroom and jelly shoes were all the rage.
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