Time & Perspective Quote by Trip Hawkins

Hawkins is selling inevitability as strategy: if computing power is destined to rise while prices fall, the only sane move is to build businesses that surf that curve instead of fighting it. Coming from a founder shaped by the early personal-computing and videogame booms, the line reads less like a neutral observation and more like a worldview forged in Moore's Law capitalism. It flatters the market as a law of nature, then quietly recasts every product decision as a timing decision: ship now, scale fast, assume tomorrow's hardware makes today's constraints irrelevant.

The subtext is an argument about where value migrates. When the box in your hand becomes a commodity, differentiation shifts upward: software, experiences, networks, brands. It's not an accident that Hawkins, synonymous with the rise of game publishing, emphasizes "consumer" electronics, not industrial gear. He's talking about mass adoption, where cost drops unlock new audiences and new habits, and where the winners are the ones who anticipate the next wave of affordability.

There's also a purposeful simplification. "All types" smooths over the messy parts: supply chain shocks, patent tolls, platform lock-in, and the fact that some gadgets plateau or get artificially segmented. The line functions as executive-grade motivation: a crisp, repeatable principle that makes risk feel rational and pushes teams toward aggressive iteration. In that sense, it's not just describing progress; it's giving permission to bet on it.