S3 storage cost fell ~85% from launch — ~7× more data for the same dollar; independently corroborated

Claim: S3 storage fell ~85% from $0.15/GB (2006) to ~$0.02/GB (2025) — roughly 7× more data for the same dollar. AWS states ~85%; independent timeline (hidekazu-konishi.com) corroborates "over 84%" across tiers, with major cuts in 2009, 2014, and December 2016.

Source: AWS S3 pricing history + hidekazu-konishi.com independent timeline (multi-source).

Confidence: Verified.

Caveat: AWS's own "we've cut prices N times" framing is vendor self-congratulation and is quarantined — only the dated launch price + current published price are primary. See AWS "we've cut prices 100+ times since 2006" framing — quarantined as vendor self-congratulation.

Why this matters for Candid: The magnitude is the headline number for any cost-floor article. Honest editorial framing pairs it with the structural shift (The structural shift: capex (server + sysadmin) → opex (managed service, administration included)) so the reader doesn't walk away thinking "85% off retail" was the whole story.