Steve Jobs, "Computers are like a bicycle for our minds." - Michael Lawrence Films

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Strong rec tuxguy · 2011-10 · on “26-year old iconoclast Steve Jobs' address to the Academy of Achievement in 1982”

Just saw another brilliant Jobs quote, circa 1991, via my svlug friend Rick Moen. I think one of the things that really separate us from the higher primates is that we are tool builders. I read a study that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometre,and humans came in with a rather unimpressive showing about a third of the way down the list. It wasn't too proud of a showing for the crown of creation. So, that didn't look so good -- but somebody at _Scientific American_ had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle, and a man on a bicycle -- a human on a bicycle -- blew the condor

Strong rec joshstrange · 2025-12 · on “Apples, Trees, and Quasimodes”

> the Bay Area tradition that treated computers not as office appliances but as tools for thought, instruments of liberation Missed a great chance to use the "bicycle for our minds" Steve Jobs quote (one of my favorite since it resonates so clearly with me) [this video]

Recommends kqr2 · 2010-10 · on “Being Steve Jobs's Boss”

Interview with Steve Jobs where he talks about the computer as a bicycle for the mind: [this video] To put it in context, he starts off by talking about the efficiency of animal locomotion. In the animal kingdom, the condor is one of the most efficient. It uses the least amount of energy to travel a kilometer. Human walking is rather inefficient in comparison. However, with a bicycle, a man can blow away a condor.

Recommends tim333 · 2015-02 · on “Apple's New Market”

The Steve Jobs quote mentioned about bicycles for the mind is cool [this video] . I know it's old but I hadn't seen it before. The rest of the article is kind of intellectual mush starting from saying "litigated against" in the first sentence when he hasn't and continuing in a similar vein.

Recommends nntwozz · 2023-03 · on “Bicycle”

Immediately made me think of Steve Jobs and this great clip: "Computers are like a bicycle for our minds." [this video]

Cites acak · 2011-08 · on “Steve Jobs' Best Quotes”

The bicycle analogy to [this video] The computer is to the human mind, what the bicycle is to our ability to travel.

Cites sampo · 2016-05 · on “Automation Should Be Like Iron Man, Not Ultron”

> In 1968 Douglas Engelbart used the wonderfully space aged term "brain amplification" And Steve Jobs in 1990, "And that’s what a computer is to me ... it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds." [this video]

Cites aub3bhat · 2016-05 · on “Coding without Google”

I think I view programming as mental abstractions in action, or to put as Steve Jobs did bicycles for the mind. [this video]