Wow. That's something only someone who grew up during the last two decades would say. In January 1984, the US $2,500 Macintosh was equivalent to approximately US $5,116 today. The external drive cost around $500, or $1,000 today (and wasn't even available until 5 months later). So just to get the computer and a second drive, would have cost over $6,000 today. That doesn't include the $600 Imagewriter, or $50 box of 10 400K blank disks which you needed to do anything with it, or even a $500 modem or $100 numeric keypad. Considering in 1984 one could buy a cheap car for twice the price of a Macintosh system,I'd say adding $500 to the deal would have been a problem for many. Can you imagine spending $7,000 today for a basic MacBook Air system?
The Western world has been blessed with an amazing consumer driven economy since the 90s, until last year, and many have forgotten how much less the dollar bought 20 years ago. Spending an extra couple of hundred bucks at the checkout counter today, once you've already spent $1,500 is no big deal, especially if it makes your life easier. But in those days, most could only justify the basics. The plethora of options on a car proved that. You had your choice of not only the AM/FM/Cassette premium sound package, but just the FM radio without the cassette, an AM only radio option, and even no radio. Today, there's no choice, because the addition or deletion of a radio costs nothing to the manufacturer, it's either basic or premium. In those days, even having a radio was a $500 option. And trust me, after spending $8,000+ for a car, another $500 for a radio was a big deal.