http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/compared-to-other-liquids-gasoline-is-cheap/
Compared to Other Liquids, Gasoline is Cheap
In five years of writing this blog, I’ve generally resisted passing along some of those great little tidbits that get passed around by e-mail—jokes, quotes, factoids, and stuff like that. Most of the sob stories are bogus, most of the jokes aren’t funny, and so on.
But I did enjoy this one, which winds up making a tech-industry point. I’ve fixed some of the formatting and updated the price of the final item… Enjoy.
Think a $4 gallon of gas is expensive? Consider the prices of these other fluids that people buy every day without complaint.
Lipton Iced Tea, 16 oz @ $1.19 = $9.52 per gallon
Diet Snapple, 16 oz @ $1.29 = $10.32 per gallon
Gatorade, 20 oz @ $1.59 = $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray, 16 oz @ $1.25 = $10.00 per gallon
Evian water, 9 oz @ $1.49 = $21.19 per gallon (!)
Wite-Out, 7 oz @ $1.39 = $25.42 per gallon
Brake fluid, 12 oz @ $3.15 = $33.60 per gallon
Scope, 1.5 oz @ $0.99 = $84.48 per gallon
Pepto-Bismol, 4 oz @ $3.85 = $123.20 per gallon
Vicks NyQuil, 6 oz @ $8.35 = $178.13 per gallon
But here’s the kicker:
HP 02 Black Ink Cartridge, 16 ml $18 online = $4,294.58 per gallon.
Yes, that’s right: inkjet printer ink goes for over four thousand dollars a gallon. What’s in there, anyway — gold filings?
So the next time you’re at the pump, be glad your car doesn’t run on water, Scope, Wite-Out, Pepto-Bismol, NyQuil, or — heaven forbid — printer ink!
