When I first bought a telescope a few years ago, I found a nice one for $200! Then when I got back into using telescopes again in the last month, I was amazed to see forum threads on the internet suggesting I spend $500 on a modern telescope, then i know that inflation has increased the price of everything, however it amazes me to see the disparities. I feel some hobbies evolve considerably as the technology involved evolves on its own. This really happened with music performance equipment over the last 40 years; Nowadays you can sync up all of your instruments in a live performance so they are all playing on the exact same beat. The types of synthesizers that you can purchase under $1,000 in this week’s world make the same type pale in comparison several decades ago. I know that heating as well as cooling technology has evolved considerably as well, however when I was a kid, if you wanted an a/c for a small space as well as didn’t want to buy a central Heating, Ventilation, as well as A/C system, the choices were fairly limited at the time; My parents had a window a/c in our home when I was growing up. Nowadays you can buy ductless mini split a/cs for the same size spaces that are effective as well as efficient, however they cost as much as 10 times or more money as a similarly performing window a/c with the same BTUs. When you look at the price differences like that, it’s difficult to justify spending the money on the ductless mini split.