Wealth & Money Quote by Stephen Baker

Baker’s line is a neat little correction to the doom-and-gloom story people love telling about tech: that a new machine arrives and everyone suddenly turns frugal. His intent is practical, almost locker-room pragmatic: the money didn’t vanish, it moved. Spending becomes a tactical adjustment, not a moral shift.

The subtext is where it bites. Calling out “things that complement their PCs” reframes the PC not as a finished product but as a gravitational center. Once the computer becomes the household’s main platform, it quietly rewrites what counts as a “need”: printers, software, speakers, upgrade parts, desks, cables, internet service. The purchase isn’t the device; it’s the ecosystem, the ongoing maintenance of participation. Baker’s phrasing implies consumers aren’t irrationally addicted to shopping; they’re rationally following the logic of compatibility, a logic designed by the market.

Contextually, this tracks with the era when PCs shifted from hobbyist toys to everyday infrastructure. That shift didn’t just spawn new categories; it cannibalized old ones. The CD player, the typewriter, even the photo album gets absorbed into the computer’s expanding orbit. Baker’s athlete tag matters, too: he talks like someone who understands gear culture. You don’t stop buying; you buy what helps you perform. The PC becomes training equipment for modern life, and the economy adapts accordingly.