If you purchase a 27" television set, chances are you will spend between $350 and $450 dollars. You would have spent the same amount 8 years ago. Granted, today's set will have many more features on it, but today you can't buy a new set with the old features for $200. They don't make them any more, so the entry-level price for 27" televisions is still $300 and up, so the TV manufacturers can retain their margins. They did not allow a market for old technology to develop the way it has in the computer industry.
Today the computer end user expects not only to have new technology, but also to be able to purchase older technology at a reduced cost. If the older technology is advanced enough to efficiently run the programs most people want to use, it is actually still a competitor in the market place. This forces the price gap between old and new to shrink in order to make the new technology palatable enough to make a difference in a purchaser's decision.
Then there's the argument that computer shouldn't be upgradable at all, but that's another story…
The result of these different factors is that companies will continue to produce more advanced products in order to grab a share of the spotlight for their brand, and price conscious products will still be available (taking advantage of that branding), to keep the manufacturers in business. Corporate business is still the largest purchaser of computing equipment, with newer software driving a need to upgrade hardware, and newer hardware capabilities driving software manufacturers to take advantage of them. So for the predictable future, the frenzy to push ahead to more and more computing power seems to be firmly entrenched.
The sizzle and the steak. Watch yourself, the plate is hot!