Prices only go up.
This is what we are told. After all, we can look up the annual inflation rates (to use it in the contemporary sense) and see how things only get more expensive.
Sadly, this is not reality. There are a number of instances where prices go the other direction. In fact, when it comes to technology, this is the standard.
Have you heard of Moore's Law? For those who are not familiar, Moore's Law is the observation that the number of transistors on computer chips doubles approximately every two years. This trend has led to dramatic improvements in computing speed, efficiency, and cost over the past decades.
This led to a CAGR of around 13%.
In this article, we will look at something that gets overlooked. What happens when something use to cost money but is not free?
Pictures
Have you ever taken a picture?
This is a rhetorical question. Obviously, anyone who is reading these words have access to the Internet and computing. Most are probably viewing this on a mobile device. These come with built in cameras.
If you are young, the idea of a time when cameras used film might seem foreign. Because of this, the idea of simply snapping a picture without any thought is commonplace. That was not always the case.
Did you realize there was a cost to each photo? In the era of film, there was both a cost for the film along with the developing of it. People bought the film, took the photos, then dropped the film off for development.
To receive the pics required paying for them.
So how much did it cost?
For our analysis, we will use this article.
Film costs
Based upon the assumption most make, the cost of pictures had to increase over time. Let us look and see how things actually took place.
We start in 1888. The cost of a roll was 83 cents for 36 exposures. This works out to 2.3 cents per exposure, or roughly 83 cents when adjusted for inflation.
When we move ahead to 1913, we see that a 6 exposure was 15 cents with a 12 costing 40 cents. This works out to 2.5-3.33 cents each.
Fast forward to 1954 and this is what we get:
...$1.88 for an 8-expsure roll of 828 format roll film, $3.50 for a 20-exposure roll of 35mm, and $5.50 for a 36-exposure roll
When adjusted for inflation, these prices compare to $19.17, $35.69, and $56.09 today.
1960:
- 120 Roll Film – $1.35 and $1.75
- 20 exposure 35mm – $2.05 and $2.35
- 36 exposure 35mm – $2.85 and $3.30
Using just the lowest and highest prices, when adjusted for inflation, these prices compare to $12.55 and $30.69 today.
1975:
- Kodachrome 20/36 exposure 35mm – $2.85/$4.10 (14/11.3 cents)
- Ektachrome X 20/36 exposure 35mm – $2.95/$4.25 (14.75/11.8 cents)
1984:
- Kodachrome 36 exposure 35mm – $7.59 (3+) (21 cents)
- Ektachrome 36 exposure 35mm – $4.79 (3+) (13.3 cents)
1995:
- $7-$9 for 36 exposures (19.4-25 cents)
Technological Deflation
The prices go up over time as most people think. We started in the late 1880 at a couple cents and it was around 25 cents 100 years later. Of course, when you adjust for inflation, it shows how costly this way.
Even leaving those numbers aside, did you know that 30 years ago, it cost a quarter for each picture you took? How many per day would you take?
Of course, that is 1995 prices. What is it in today's money?
Using this inflation calculator we see 25 cents is now 51 cents.
That means a photo in 2024 will cost each of us half a buck.
Of course, this isn't correct. The cost of taking a picture is essentially free. We simply pull out out phone and snap a photo.
Here is where technology deflated things.
We no longer deal with film. The process of dematerialization took place. Photography went digital (with a few exceptions) meaning it was demonetized. We no longer have to buy equipment, film, or pay to get the pictures developed. All of it shows up on our phones.
As an aside, there are professionals and true enthusiasts who use expensive cameras and lens but they are not the norm. Even then, in the majority of the cases, these are digital.
So what happens when technology deflates things?
Abundance takes place. Let us look at the estimated number of pictures taken annually, according to a search on Groq.
| year | Number of Photos Taken |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 86 billion |
| 2005 | 190 billion |
| 2010 | 375 billion |
| 2015 | 1.2 trillion |
| 2016 | 1.3 trillion |
| 2017 | 1.4 trillion |
| 2018 | 1.6 trillion |
| 2019 | 1.7 trillion |
| 2020 | 1.8 trillion |
| 2021 | 1.9 trillion |
| 2022 | 2.0 trillion |
| 2023 | 2.1 trillion |
By the way, if we focus upon the 2005-2010 period, we see a near doubling. Yet, from 2010-2015, we see a 3.2x jump. What happened?
This is likely due to the penetration of smartphones globally. As more people got them in their hands, pictures becomes a standard.
Picture Sharing
But wait, there's more.
When people got their film developed, often an extra set of pictures was purchased for grandma. This meant adding more to the development costs.
After that, a special envelope was purchase that was designed for photos. The set was put in there and mailed to grandma.
This was the net set of pictures. One other fact was that you had no idea what the pictures would look like before development. Have your thumb in the way? Throw that one away. The picture blurry because you were burping while taking it? Another one for the trash.
A 36 exposure set might have 3 or 4 pictures that were worthless. That adds 10% to the cost.
We pull those out and send the pics to grandma. She gets them a week later and then calls to tell us she got them. Of course, she is calling long distance, so the hour long conversation costs like 10% per minute.
What do we do today?
We upload pictures many times a day even without thinking. Whatever the social media platform of choice, lots of photos are uploaded.
Social media: We share 14 billion images through social media daily, with WhatsApp being the most popular (6.9 billion). Source
Be honest, have any of you thought about what this all would have cost 40 years ago? Is is now obvious why Kodak is out of business.
Of course, the evolution is continuing.
Look at what I was able to create with no graphic design skills, an absent of expensive software, and no high end laptop. This image was generated in a few seconds for free (at least to me).
https://inleo.io/threads/view/taskmaster4450le/re-leothreads-2t6vgvbq6
Inflations stats do not take into account products or services that use to have a cost yet are free today. There are a lot of them out there.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
I agree. This is a reality often overlooked. The argument can work on movies as well. We have bigger TVs that are cheap, people own more cars. Cellphones and laptops which were initially just for businessmen, are easy to acquire for everyone, and they don't have to pay much.
Information is probably the biggest. Consider how much it use to cost to create, store, and distribute.
just reflecting on the number of images and pictures i look through daily. If it was in the 90's maybe I would have ran bankrupt, Lols. Wonderful piece of info friend, tech is cutting price to even free.
👍 !PGM
Imagine the number of pictures and images one always come across daily. Technology is really making massive wave