Hardware has become very affordable today. And when I say affordable, I mean it. You can own a PC powerhouse without drilling a hole in your pocket. Back in 1990s, people thought computers were affordable, though rocket propellant was much cheaper (compared on bucks per kilogram). Today we see a world in which technology is truely accessible to everyone in need of it. This is not just another revolution, but still the beginning of the first. A revolution in which hardware changes everyday to become smaller, and cheaper. Everyone knows this: hardware is essential for almost everything, from your cellphone to the bank where you save your hard earned money.
If we carefully notice, price drop of most hardware products is not fuelled by competition but by obsoleteness. This is an interesting phenomenon. For example, lets suppose that company A released a high-end graphics card two months ago for $1000. Due to advancement of production technology they happen to release another card today, but one that's twice as powerful. Its price comes around at $1099. This improvement in cost-effectiveness is due to advancement and maturity of their technology, rather than just market competition. Now comes the interesting part. If the company has to keep selling its older cards in stock, it needs to set a price advantage for the first card. So the price of card number one becomes $677 or $599 or whatever. The consumer, whose needs are nevertheless satisfied by the first card, happily goes out to buy it. How many times haven't we waited to buy something just because we wanted it cheaper!
On the other hand, this effect is bringing great progress. Everyone is in need of faster and cheaper computers all the time. Organisations, SOHOs and individuals like students who cannot spend big money on computer hardware are now benefiting greatly from price-drops. Productivity today comes at a much lesser cost. The availabilty of every hardware component has manifolded since many companies offer the same product in hundred variations each.
As with any technology, humanity only benefits from what is affordable than what is groundbreaking alone. Jack Kilby or Robert Noyce may have never meant it by inventing the microchip, but they have truely changed the world.
