In Norway, there was a tax levied on blank media, as everybody supposed a significant portion of them would be used to make, ah, evaluation copies of copyrighted material. The tax income was put in a fund, from which copyright holders were compensated by market share (methinks).
It so happens I have excellent memory for numbers; my preferred blank media in the late eighties/early nineties and their associated prices:
Blank Fuji VHS tape, 240 minutes: NOK 89/ea (In today's money: $20)
Maxell XLII-s 2x45 min cassette: NOK 65/ea ($14 today)
5.25" floppy, 3M: NOK 179 for pack of 10 ($40 today)
3.5" 1.44MB floppy, Esselte: NOK349 for pack of 10 ($80 today)
CD-R (1996): NOK39/ea ($7.50 today)
I'll hand Maxell that, though - the tapes I used to record live music on back in the nineties still sound excellent today, so for longevity, they're hard to beat!
It so happens I have excellent memory for numbers; my preferred blank media in the late eighties/early nineties and their associated prices:
Blank Fuji VHS tape, 240 minutes: NOK 89/ea (In today's money: $20) Maxell XLII-s 2x45 min cassette: NOK 65/ea ($14 today) 5.25" floppy, 3M: NOK 179 for pack of 10 ($40 today) 3.5" 1.44MB floppy, Esselte: NOK349 for pack of 10 ($80 today) CD-R (1996): NOK39/ea ($7.50 today)
I'll hand Maxell that, though - the tapes I used to record live music on back in the nineties still sound excellent today, so for longevity, they're hard to beat!