Aug 2024, I purchased 32gb of RAM for $109. That same kit today would cost me $509. Sept 2025 I got a 250gb nvme for $33 that is now around $85. The inflation is real.
It’s been a while since I learned this but yeah we were taught it significantly reduces images in size, though in quality too (mostly because of the 256 colors limit, otherwise it is technically lossless IIRC). PNG results in slightly smaller files with much better colors and alpha channels so yeah by comparison gif isn’t that good, but to be fair, PNG was created as a direct improvement over gifs for single images compression/encoding, and quite some time later too.
Adding to that, video encoding and compression algorithms have gone so far now that encoding basically any video longer than a few frames as a gif is a waste, but that’s because these hardly store any actual still frame IIRC, it’s mostly codecs-based wizardry which, for a simple explanation, can cheaply encode several frames by basically saying “this whole area stays the same color for X frames” and even moving blobs of pixels across multiple frames, whereas gifs, by design, store each individual frame making up the video.
Fair enough, you could say the prices are “inflated”. There’s a big difference though between inflation as the devaluation of currency that’s been slowly happening “forever” and inflation in the sense of a guy selling shit simply racking up his prices and putting the surplus in his greedy little pockets. Of course you can choose to use the exact same word for both cases if you wish
Aug 2024, I purchased 32gb of RAM for $109. That same kit today would cost me $509. Sept 2025 I got a 250gb nvme for $33 that is now around $85. The inflation is real.
oh you kids…let me tell ya how much RAM was in the late 90s…
I appreciate the fact that this is a still gif (good compression!), but it has several frames with differing compression artifacts for no good reason.
still gifs have good compression? I recall that motion gifs are notorious for large file sizes, but are still gifs the opposite?
It’s been a while since I learned this but yeah we were taught it significantly reduces images in size, though in quality too (mostly because of the 256 colors limit, otherwise it is technically lossless IIRC). PNG results in slightly smaller files with much better colors and alpha channels so yeah by comparison gif isn’t that good, but to be fair, PNG was created as a direct improvement over gifs for single images compression/encoding, and quite some time later too.
Adding to that, video encoding and compression algorithms have gone so far now that encoding basically any video longer than a few frames as a gif is a waste, but that’s because these hardly store any actual still frame IIRC, it’s mostly codecs-based wizardry which, for a simple explanation, can cheaply encode several frames by basically saying “this whole area stays the same color for X frames” and even moving blobs of pixels across multiple frames, whereas gifs, by design, store each individual frame making up the video.
Interesting, I didn’t realize still gif was lossless, I was thinking in comparison to lossy formats like jpg.
Not inflation, just artificial shortage
109 USD in August 2024 is equivalent in buying power to $115.31 today. $33 from September 2025, adjusted for inflation, would be about $33.84 today.
This has absolutely nothing to do with inflation
The inflation of computer component costs, the topic of this post.
Fair enough, you could say the prices are “inflated”. There’s a big difference though between inflation as the devaluation of currency that’s been slowly happening “forever” and inflation in the sense of a guy selling shit simply racking up his prices and putting the surplus in his greedy little pockets. Of course you can choose to use the exact same word for both cases if you wish
It wasn’t the best word choice. I did say ‘the’ inflation to try and separate it a bit, but should have rephrased.
Ditto, thought 64 would’ve been overkill at that point…