[snakeoil]

An interesting post I think. Years ago, my father had a friend that came to him with a pitch about a new invention. A portable phone that you could carry anywhere and use it. Bach then phones where in cars but the gear filled up your trunk and the phone was tethered to the car. I think $50,000 was the figure that was needed to get in. My father discussed it with my mother at the dinner table. My father was against it because he felt that the only ones that would buy such a phone were lawyers and doctors. The thought of teenagers considering a cell phone a necessity probably never crossed my father’s mind. The friend of my father was one of the ones that started Cingular which is now AT & T.

Another story, My father always saved and invested and he did quite well. He was considering a company called Berkshire Hathaway in 1963 but he didn't buy it because they never paid any dividends. He equated no dividends with no profit. I think the cost per share was $1068 (not sure.) Berkshire Hathaway A is selling for $246,220 per share today.

Although my father was, what would be called middle-class today, he put all three of his kids through college and died a pretty wealthy man.

[johnforbes]

Even in a very rural public high school, we had part of one class which explained that even a rather poor person could buy a share or two of stock in a company you know (e.g., Coca Cola).

I found that fascinating and still do. Every month for many decades, I dollar-cost average more into stocks. I did that after the crash of 1987, during the tech wreck of 2001, during the Crash of 2008, and always.

Buffett himself has said that the rapid growth phase of BRK is over, and that sheer size will make it more difficult for Berkshire to outperform in the future.

There were TV shows and films showing actors using car phones in the late 1950s. But surely there were many limitations back then to use?

[RealJustme]

I had one of the first generation of car phones, I believe I paid around $3K for it and the installation. It wasn't the only the cost of the phone that was expensive if was the cost of the minutes to use it! I remember my first monthly phone bill was around $900.00 talking to clients while commuting back and forth to work. That was a wake up call!