“Sci-fi films are the epic films of the day because we can no longer put 10,000 extras in the scene - but we can draw thousands of aliens with computers.”
Computers changed everything, and they did it fast. These quotes track the digital revolution from early wonder to modern dependence, with observations from programmers, technologists, and people still trying to figure out why their printer will not work.
“Personally, I rather look forward to a computer program winning the world chess championship. Humanity needs a lesson in humility.”
“Sci-fi films are the epic films of the day because we can no longer put 10,000 extras in the scene - but we can draw thousands of aliens with computers.”
“Google is working on self-driving cars, and they seem to work. People are so bad at driving cars that computers don't have to be that good to be much better.”
“Security is, I would say, our top priority because for all the exciting things you will be able to do with computers - organizing your lives, staying in touch with people, being creative - if we don't solve these security problems, then people will hold back.”
“The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.”
“The Internet: transforming society and shaping the future through chat.”
“This is what customers pay us for - to sweat all these details so it's easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We're supposed to be really good at this. That doesn't mean we don't listen to customers, but it's hard for them to tell you what they want when they've never seen anything remotely like it.”
“We're going to be able to ask our computers to monitor things for us, and when certain conditions happen, are triggered, the computers will take certain actions and inform us after the fact.”
“Don't try to be like Jackie. There is only one Jackie. Study computers instead.”
“I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.”
“Globalization, as defined by rich people like us, is a very nice thing... you are talking about the Internet, you are talking about cell phones, you are talking about computers. This doesn't affect two-thirds of the people of the world.”
“I'm interested in all kinds of pictures, however they are made, with cameras, with paint brushes, with computers, with anything.”
“Computers may save time but they sure waste a lot of paper. About 98 percent of everything printed out by a computer is garbage that no one ever reads.”
“Technology is like water it wants to find its level. So if you hook up your computer to a billion other computers, it just makes sense that a tremendous share of the resources you want to use - not only text or media but processing power too - will be located remotely.”
“The computer is a moron.”
“Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.”