Retro ads reveal sky-high prices of now archaic technology

The sky-high prices of now archaic technology have been revealed in a gallery of old newspaper and magazine adverts. The vintage ads promote bulky computers, phones, video players and camcorders at eye-watering prices. They include a 1956 promotion for a magnetic tape recording system priced at $2,675 (£2,020), around $24,000 (£18,000) today when considering inflation. A simple landline answering machine would have cost you $130 (£98) in 1971, one advert shows, which today would cost $780 (£590). Since the first personal smartphones and computers were released in the mid-1970s, rising competition and ever-advancing manufacturing technologies have meant the average price of the gadgets has plummeted.