It’s funny when you look back at the cost and quality of things when they first came out like CD Players and DVD Players. Not a lot of people could easily afford them. Now the big flat screens and DVD systems are relatively cheaper than the “big luxury” color tvs of the 70s.
I worked at Pacific Stereo in 1980. We got in the first Sony CD players. They cost $1,299. I actually sold a few.
I remember telling my sales peers that there is no reason they should cost more than a couple hundred bucks. By then I’d already been jaded by the industry and realized what it should cost. Heck, we sold laserdisk players for $750 and they used gas tube lasers. I still have one for just that reason.