A Gadget's Life: From Gee-whiz to Junk

Web-connected and 3-D TVs are KEY the buzz at this year's Consumer 100 Average price, adjusted for inflation million Electronics Show, but it hasn't even been that long since TV went digital. Here's a look at sold $5,000 $2,500 which gadgets have gone from obscure to ubiquitous over the past 30 years, and how their prices shrank along the way: $1000 80 90% of households $100 owned a cellphone by 2009 60 COMMUNICATION The average price of a cellphone was about $4,000 in 1984 - and only a few people could afford one. Sales of home phones fell as cellphones got less expensive, averaging about $200 in 2000. Sales of standard cellphones began to fall as smartphones added features beyond calls and text messaging Smartphones ****** 40 Corded phones 20 Cordless phones Standard Fax machines "80 cellphones '95 "00 "05 '10 ***** 60 million COMPUTING Personal computers cost a fraction of what they did in 1980, and 88 percent of all households have one. But they are desk-bound no longer – mobile devices now make up the largest share of personal computers, with 48 million units projected to be sold in 2011. New tablets by Motorola, T-Mobile and others have made appearances at this year's CES. E-readers are also on the rise, with the average price falling from $347 in 2006 to $130 in 2011. 40 Includes laptops, netbooks, iPads and other tablets 00 20 Personal computers (Desktop and mobile) Mobile computers CEA started breaking out mobile from E all personal computers Printers Modems/broadband E-readers '90 '95 "05 '10 $592 TELEVISION 40 million In the lead-up to the broadcast conversion from analog to digital, the last analog TVs were shipped to the market in 2007. The average price of digital TVs has fallen 86 percent since 1998. Analog color TVs .... 20 $4,224 Digital TVS Moriochrome TVs "80 "90 "95 "05 '10 VIDEO AND PHOTO 40 Digital cameras It took DVD players 14 years to reach 94 percent of U.S. homes in 2010, a rate that VCRS reached in 2000 after 27 years on the market. Blu-ray players are in 10 percent of homes but are not expected to follow DVD's trajectory many consumers are opting to stream video from the Internet instead. million 20 Blu-ray players $2,047 DVD players "95 VCR decks Camcorders "90 "00 "05 '10 AUDIO 60 MP3 players gained popularity much more quickly after their introduction than CD players did, with the fastest growth occuring after the opening of the Apple iTunes store in 2003. Sales have since slowed, in part because cellphones are increasingly capable of storing and streaming music. million MP3 players (portable) Radios 40 (home, clock, portable) CEA stopped - tracking sales 20 Boomboxes Tape players (portable) CD players (home, car, portable) "80 "85 "90 "95 "00 "05 '10 NOTE: 2010 data are estimates and 2011 data are projections. Corded and cordless phone categories do not include models with answering machines. Web-connected and 3-D TVs are KEY the buzz at this year's Consumer 100 Average price, adjusted for inflation million Electronics Show, but it hasn't even been that long since TV went digital. Here's a look at sold $5,000 $2,500 which gadgets have gone from obscure to ubiquitous over the past 30 years, and how their prices shrank along the way: $1000 80 90% of households $100 owned a cellphone by 2009 60 COMMUNICATION The average price of a cellphone was about $4,000 in 1984 - and only a few people could afford one. Sales of home phones fell as cellphones got less expensive, averaging about $200 in 2000. Sales of standard cellphones began to fall as smartphones added features beyond calls and text messaging Smartphones ****** 40 Corded phones 20 Cordless phones Standard Fax machines "80 cellphones '95 "00 "05 '10 ***** 60 million COMPUTING Personal computers cost a fraction of what they did in 1980, and 88 percent of all households have one. But they are desk-bound no longer – mobile devices now make up the largest share of personal computers, with 48 million units projected to be sold in 2011. New tablets by Motorola, T-Mobile and others have made appearances at this year's CES. E-readers are also on the rise, with the average price falling from $347 in 2006 to $130 in 2011. 40 Includes laptops, netbooks, iPads and other tablets 00 20 Personal computers (Desktop and mobile) Mobile computers CEA started breaking out mobile from E-readers all personal computers Printers Modems/broadband '90 '95 "05 '10 $592 TELEVISION .. 40 million In the lead-up to the broadcast conversion from analog to digital, the last analog TVs were shipped to the market in 2007. The average price of digital TVs has fallen 86 percent since 1998. Analog color TVs .... 20 $4,224 Digital TVS Moriochrome TVs "80 "90 "95 "05 '10 VIDEO AND PHOTO 40 Digital cameras It took DVD players 14 years to reach 94 percent of U.S. homes in 2010, a rate that VCRS reached in 2000 after 27 years on the market. Blu-ray players are in 10 percent of homes but are not expected to follow DVD's trajectory many consumers are opting to stream video from the Internet instead. million 20 Blu-ray players $2,047 DVD players "95 VCR decks Camcorders "90 "00 "05 '10 AUDIO 60 MP3 players gained popularity much more quickly after their introduction than CD players did, with the fastest growth occuring after the opening of the Apple iTunes store in 2003. Sales have since slowed, in part because cellphones are increasingly capable of storing and streaming music. million MP3 players (portable) Radios 40 (home, clock, portable) CEA stopped - tracking sales 20 Boomboxes Tape players (portable) CD players (home, car, portable) "80 "85 "90 "95 "00 "05 '10 NOTE: 2010 data are estimates and 2011 data are projections. Corded and cordless phone categories do not include models with answering machines. Web-connected and 3-D TVs are KEY the buzz at this year's Consumer 100 Average price, adjusted for inflation million Electronics Show, but it hasn't even been that long since TV went digital. Here's a look at sold $5,000 $2,500 which gadgets have gone from obscure to ubiquitous over the past 30 years, and how their prices shrank along the way: $1000 80 90% of households $100 owned a cellphone by 2009 60 COMMUNICATION The average price of a cellphone was about $4,000 in 1984 - and only a few people could afford one. Sales of home phones fell as cellphones got less expensive, averaging about $200 in 2000. Sales of standard cellphones began to fall as smartphones added features beyond calls and text messaging Smartphones ****** 40 Corded phones 20 Cordless phones Standard Fax machines "80 cellphones '95 "00 "05 '10 ***** 60 million COMPUTING Personal computers cost a fraction of what they did in 1980, and 88 percent of all households have one. But they are desk-bound no longer – mobile devices now make up the largest share of personal computers, with 48 million units projected to be sold in 2011. New tablets by Motorola, T-Mobile and others have made appearances at this year's CES. E-readers are also on the rise, with the average price falling from $347 in 2006 to $130 in 2011. 40 Includes laptops, netbooks, iPads and other tablets 00 20 Personal computers (Desktop and mobile) Mobile computers CEA started breaking out mobile from E-readers all personal computers Printers Modems/broadband '90 '95 "05 '10 $592 TELEVISION .. 40 million In the lead-up to the broadcast conversion from analog to digital, the last analog TVs were shipped to the market in 2007. The average price of digital TVs has fallen 86 percent since 1998. Analog color TVs .... 20 $4,224 Digital TVS Moriochrome TVs "80 "90 "95 "05 '10 VIDEO AND PHOTO 40 Digital cameras It took DVD players 14 years to reach 94 percent of U.S. homes in 2010, a rate that VCRS reached in 2000 after 27 years on the market. Blu-ray players are in 10 percent of homes but are not expected to follow DVD's trajectory many consumers are opting to stream video from the Internet instead. million 20 Blu-ray players $2,047 DVD players "95 VCR decks Camcorders "90 "00 "05 '10 AUDIO 60 MP3 players gained popularity much more quickly after their introduction than CD players did, with the fastest growth occuring after the opening of the Apple iTunes store in 2003. Sales have since slowed, in part because cellphones are increasingly capable of storing and streaming music. million MP3 players (portable) Radios 40 (home, clock, portable) CEA stopped - tracking sales 20 Boomboxes Tape players (portable) CD players (home, car, portable) "80 "85 "90 "95 "00 "05 '10 NOTE: 2010 data are estimates and 2011 data are projections. Corded and cordless phone categories do not include models with answering machines. Web-connected and 3-D TVs are KEY the buzz at this year's Consumer 100 Average price, adjusted for inflation million Electronics Show, but it hasn't even been that long since TV went digital. Here's a look at sold $5,000 $2,500 which gadgets have gone from obscure to ubiquitous over the past 30 years, and how their prices shrank along the way: $1000 80 90% of households $100 owned a cellphone by 2009 60 COMMUNICATION The average price of a cellphone was about $4,000 in 1984 - and only a few people could afford one. Sales of home phones fell as cellphones got less expensive, averaging about $200 in 2000. Sales of standard cellphones began to fall as smartphones added features beyond calls and text messaging Smartphones ****** 40 Corded phones 20 Cordless phones Standard Fax machines "80 cellphones '95 "00 "05 '10 ***** 60 million COMPUTING Personal computers cost a fraction of what they did in 1980, and 88 percent of all households have one. But they are desk-bound no longer – mobile devices now make up the largest share of personal computers, with 48 million units projected to be sold in 2011. New tablets by Motorola, T-Mobile and others have made appearances at this year's CES. E-readers are also on the rise, with the average price falling from $347 in 2006 to $130 in 2011. 40 Includes laptops, netbooks, iPads and other tablets 00 20 Personal computers (Desktop and mobile) Mobile computers CEA started breaking out mobile from E-readers all personal computers Printers Modems/broadband '90 '95 "05 '10 $592 TELEVISION .. 40 million In the lead-up to the broadcast conversion from analog to digital, the last analog TVs were shipped to the market in 2007. The average price of digital TVs has fallen 86 percent since 1998. Analog color TVs .... 20 $4,224 Digital TVS Moriochrome TVs "80 "90 "95 "05 '10 VIDEO AND PHOTO 40 Digital cameras It took DVD players 14 years to reach 94 percent of U.S. homes in 2010, a rate that VCRS reached in 2000 after 27 years on the market. Blu-ray players are in 10 percent of homes but are not expected to follow DVD's trajectory many consumers are opting to stream video from the Internet instead. million 20 Blu-ray players $2,047 DVD players "95 VCR decks Camcorders "90 "00 "05 '10 AUDIO 60 MP3 players gained popularity much more quickly after their introduction than CD players did, with the fastest growth occuring after the opening of the Apple iTunes store in 2003. Sales have since slowed, in part because cellphones are increasingly capable of storing and streaming music. million MP3 players (portable) Radios 40 (home, clock, portable) CEA stopped - tracking sales 20 Boomboxes Tape players (portable) CD players (home, car, portable) "80 "85 "90 "95 "00 "05 '10 NOTE: 2010 data are estimates and 2011 data are projections. Corded and cordless phone categories do not include models with answering machines.