Top Ten Technology Quotes

This past week Bill Gates appeared on the Today show. They showed a 1992 interview with Tom Brokaw where Gates predicted that “electronic mail” would become one of the “next big things” and expressed surprise that it had not happened sooner.

Here are a few of my favorite technology related quotes including two others from Bill. Try to match the quote to the person (answer key below):

1. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.	A.  Jean Arp (sculptor, painter, poet)
2. It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity	B.  Dave Barry (columnist/humorist)
3. Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.	C.  Arthur C. Clarke (science fiction author)
4. Bill Gates is a very rich man today... and do you want to know why? The answer is one word: versions.	D.  Albert Einstein (smart guy)
5. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.	E.  Bill Gates (Harvard drop-out)
6. All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.	F.  Bill Gates (See above)
7. The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation.	G.  Mitchell Kapor (founder of Lotus)
8. Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man* has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation.	H.  Carl Sagan (astronomer/author)
9. Men* have become the tools of their tools.	I.  Henry David Thoreau (author, poet, philosopher)
10. Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana.	J.  Oscar Wilde (Irish writer and poet)

* What about women?

Answer Key:  1=C, 2=D, 3=G, 4=B, 5=E/F, 6=H, 7=J, 8=A, 9=I, 10=E/F