[net.micro] a useful statistic to remember regarding memory size

cdh@BBNCD3.ARPA (Carl D. Howe) (05/01/85)

Here's a useful statistic for people trying to guage whether "large"
RAMs are cost effective:  Assuming $5 per 256K RAM, you can now
fully populate the address space of a 68000 (i.e. have a 16 MByte
main memory) for a chip cost of $2560 (i.e. less than a MAC XL).
If you want byte parity, the price goes up to $2880.

Remember when 4K cost more than that?

If you are now designing a general-purpose microcomputer product for sale in
the next few years, and you have no way to use that amount of memory, perhaps
it is time to think about a more modern approach.  Old measurements of what is
cost-effective may no longer apply.

Carl

P.S.  I understand chip cost is not the only factor relating to cost of memory,
but until recently, it certainly dominated.