@ unsurprising

This is the end-game of every research-based product - when its good enough, people stop paying more for better. My favorite example is the ski industry, the most recent to be hard hit are chemicals producing dyestuffs.

In the PC industry, the market was huge, and margins were always smaller - the concept, as usual, was to gain market share and profit in the end-game. They are trying - including by keeping the atom/netbook price up - to keep the prices high, but 2nd hand Duos and Quads are dropping in price, and soon self-assembly will become cheaper than of-the-shelf again.

I suggest you buy one 2nd hand on Ebay from someone switching to a laptop, or wait a few months for an assembled box at your price/quality.