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Over the long term (pre-2008 versus post-2008), the US dollar has gotten stronger with respect to the British Pound, going from about 2 US dollars per British pound to "only" 1.5 to 1.6. That's mostly due to people fleeing other currencies for the "safe" haven of US dollars during the financial crisis of 2008-2009. But more recently (since the start of 2012), the US dollar has been getting weaker, albeit at a smaller magnitude. More like 1.6 instead of 1.5, but that's within the typical variation seen since 2008, so it's not much of a trend yet. If it starts climbing back up towards 1.8 or 2.0, then things will start to approach where they were at before 2008.

It all depends on the time sample taken. This graph kind of says it all for the recent history. If you want to see the older history there are some good links on that page.

Apple do seriously overcharge here in the UK. A quick check of their websites shows that iMacs in the US start at $1200, and at £800 the UK. This would be expected if 3$ = £2, but that hasn't been true since 2002. Now $2 = £1, and as a result components (esp memory) are cheap here, and desktop computers can be found very cheap from some sources (you can't compete building your own, even saving on not buying Windows). While Mac have dropped iPod prices to undercut other mp3 players, their computers have been stationary. This means that an iMac now costs double the price of the equivalent PC machine here, which seems ludicrous to me.

Here, the iPod pervades all, and Apple are wisely using it as a tool to sell their other products. The consumer culture is not 'should I buy an iPod?' but 'which iPod should I buy?'. Now three of my friends own expensive Macs, and I bought a dual core 64 bit mini PC for £350 and feel rather pleased.

Source http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph3.htm

I found these pages to be very interesting, They confirm your comment about the early 90s.

http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph.htm
http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph2.htm
http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph3.htm

I found these pages to be very interesting, They confirm your comment about the early 90s.

http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph.htm
http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph2.htm
http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph3.htm

I found these pages to be very interesting, They confirm your comment about the early 90s.

http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph.htm
http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph2.htm
http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/dollhist-graph3.htm

It depends too when you bought that computer. In 1984 the pound/dollar exchange rate was about £1 to $1.50. But in 1985 it was almost £1 to $1.

the irony is using ancient and inconvenient measurements with modern technology such as this

The only word I can think of is "quaint"

If only you'd use the metric system like congress insisted back in 1886 things really would be easier for you.

except that the US apparently sanctioned the metric system in 1886, and the American Bureau of Standards made the metric system it's standard in 1964. (nice timeline here ). There've been various attempts to further adopt in more recent history, but basically the US doesn't want to change. The metric system is nonexistant as far as general use is concerned. The only "off the top of my head" metric use I can think of are 2 L bottles of coke. nothing else gets metric treatment.

Please see:

• This UK page (now moved here
• This UK news site A quote:

  Ten thousand million nucleotides The number of nucleotides in the EMBL Database has now exceeded 10,000,000,000.

  Seems to indicate that 10^10 = 10 thousand million.
• This site, With quote:

  Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question "What do you understand by 'a billion'?" would be: "Well, I mean a million million, but I often don't know what other people mean." Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases "English billion" and "American billion". English-speaking South Africans, Australians, and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.

  Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid "billion" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of "a very large number".

  Publications consulted: OED, Editions 1 and 2. Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise. P Pamart, "A propos d'une reforme des mesures legales", in "Vie et Langage", (125)1962, pp 435-437.