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With rare exceptions, however, and despite what you probably think, the price for a computer hasn't really changed much over the years. Now, before you start calling my boss demanding that I be given a drug and sanity test, let me explain my theory on buying computers.
As computers have grown more powerful, applications --- everything from word processing programs to games --- have gotten fatter and more complex. Years ago, back when the operating system for most PCs was DOS, I used a text-based word processor called Xywrite. It was so compact that the entire program fit on a floppy disk. And it was faster than the word processor I use today. Surprisingly, perhaps, it had all the features of the high-flying word processor I use at home now --- spell checking, multiple windows, search and replace, almost any feature you could want. And --- as is still true today --- the word processor contributed little to the writing process. (There have been several times when I wished I could blame my prose or thoughts on a word processor, but that part of the writing equation is my problem.)