You may be right. The common consumer will hold up tech progress, but not all that much. You forget about the upper-middle class that doesn't know much about the technology he/she buys. This person only cares about getting the latest, greatest, and fastest hardware available. It is these consumers, along with the power users, that will move technology along. That is why we still have users (such as RazzleFrog's girlfriend) that use outdated Crapium IIs and those that are striving for the newest AMD. The laggers don't hold up technological progress.. its not even price. The only slowing technological progress is the rate at which it is turned out by major companies. If major computer corporations (Dell, Gateway, IBM, etc) continue to build preformance desk tops, Mr. and Mrs. Need-The-Best will buy it, along with the power users that actually know how to use the newest hardware.
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You may be right. The common consumer will hold up tech progress, but not all that much. You forget about the upper-middle class that doesn't know much about the technology he/she buys. This person only cares about getting the latest, greatest, and fastest hardware available. It is these consumers, along with the power users, that will move technology along. That is why we still have users (such as RazzleFrog's girlfriend) that use outdated Crapium IIs and those that are striving for the newest AMD. The laggers don't hold up technological progress.. its not even price. The only slowing technological progress is the rate at which it is turned out by major companies. If major computer corporations (Dell, Gateway, IBM, etc) continue to build preformance desk tops, Mr. and Mrs. Need-The-Best will buy it, along with the power users that actually know how to use the newest hardware.