In 1984 a Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument would have set you back about as much as a house. The Australian-built sampler was the stuff of legend, dreams and Trevor Horn. In the hands of the Art of Noise, it could turn out pop hits like Close (To The Edit) and Moments in Love, but some pretty abstract early experiments with sampling too.
In 2020 I bought a complete facsimile of the Fairlight in pure software form. It was twenty quid.
You can see the #51for50 project to date here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/51-for-50/
mmitII 
Loving these Matt. And your comments on the Fairlight price remind me of the collective intake of breath among my crowd in the sixth form when Melody Maker mentioned in an interview that Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (never “OMD” in writing in those days) had bought two to take on tour in case one got beer spilt on it. Such wealth!