The Great Tech Deflation
In a world of relentless price increases, technology remains the great deflationary force. The computing power, display quality, and connectivity you get per dollar spent has improved dramatically, even as nominal prices have held steady or declined. This is the one category where consumers are genuinely getting more for less.
Consider televisions: a 65-inch 4K smart TV from a reputable brand costs $350-500 today. Five years ago, the same size and quality was $800-1,200. Panel manufacturing has scaled so efficiently that display technology has become almost commodity-priced. Even premium OLED sets have dropped from $2,500+ to under $1,300 for a 65-inch model.
Laptops, Phones, and Beyond
Laptops tell a similar story. A $450 Chromebook or Windows laptop today offers better performance than a $700 machine from 2019 — faster processors, more RAM, better displays, longer battery life. Apple's M-series chips have made even the base MacBook Air a powerhouse that would have been considered professional-grade hardware three years ago.
Smartphones have largely plateaued in price ($800-1,100 for flagships) but the capabilities per dollar keep expanding. Budget phones in the $200-300 range now offer 90% of the flagship experience. And the broader tech ecosystem — cloud storage, streaming bandwidth, app capabilities — continues to improve while costs remain flat or fall. Technology is the consumer's best friend in an inflationary world.