I confess that in 1901 I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years.
Interpretation
The quote reflects Wilbur Wright's humble acknowledgment of his past skepticism about human flight.
In this quote, Wilbur Wright reminisces about a time when he doubted the feasibility of flight, indicating that innovation and progress often happen faster than we can imagine. It serves as a reminder that great advancements can occur in unexpected ways and that our limitations may be surpassed through determination and ingenuity.
In practice
During a speech on technological advancements, one might quote this to emphasize the unpredictability of progress.
I am an enthusiast, but not a crank in the sense that I have some pet theories as to the proper construction of a flying machine. I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then, if possible, add my mite to help on the future worker who will attain final success.
Men become wise just as they become rich, more by what they save than by what they receive.
The fact that the great scientist believed in flying machines was the one thing that encouraged us to begin our studies.
The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space... on the infinite highway of the air.
Proprietary software keeps users divided and helpless. Divided because each user is forbidden to redistribute it to others, and helpless because the users can't change it since they don't have the source code. They can't study what it really does. So the proprietary program is a system of unjust power.
Wherever technology reaches its real fulfillment, it transcends into architecture.
The hope of internet anarchists was that repressive governments would have only two options: accept the internet with its limitless possibilities of spreading information, or restrict internet access to the ruling elite and turn your back on the 21st century, as North Korea has done.
For the first time in history it is now possible to take care of everybody at a higher standard of living than any have ever known. Only ten years ago the 'more with less' technology reached the point where this could be done. All humanity now has the option to become enduringly successful.
Do I really want to do a mobile game that's one of 300,000, where discoverability is everything? You really have to have a little more sizzle on the steak. I would rather be one of 100 apps for Google Glass than one of 300,000 for iOS and Android.
[The] dynamics of computational artifacts extend beyond the interface narrowly defined, to relations of people with each other and to the place of computing in their ongoing activities. System design, it follows, must include not only the design of innovative technologies, but their artful integration with the rest of the social and material world.
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