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An invention has to make sense in the world it finishes in, not in the world it started.
Tim O'Reilly
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Inventions must be practical and relevant in their final context rather than just in their original idea phase.

Tim O'Reilly's quote emphasizes the importance of context in the development and application of inventions. An invention that does not address the needs and circumstances of the environment it is used in may fail to achieve its intended purpose, highlighting that innovation should be adaptable and responsive to the realities of its ultimate application.

Themes

InventionContextInnovationTechnologyPracticality

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of user-centric design in technology.

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Share what you do profusely, because it will be remixed by others into something new, rich and strange.
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I find that creative streak I think often leads in programmers to be good predictors of where culture as a whole is going to go. And that is where I think I've tried over the years to in some ways use my customers as a filter or a predictor of where technology as a whole is going to go. Or where the world as a whole is going to go.
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The Lean Startup isn't just about how to create a more successful entrepreneurial business, it's about what we can learn from those businesses to improve virtually everything we do. I imagine Lean Startup principles applied to government programs, to healthcare, and to solving the world's great problems. It's ultimately an answer to the question: How can we learn more quickly what works, and discard what doesn't?
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At O'Reilly, the way we think about our business is that we're not a publisher; we're not a conference producer; we're a company that helps change the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators.
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Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don't want to run out of gas on your trip, but you're not doing a tour of gas stations. You have to pay attention to money, but it shouldn't be about the money.
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There is people who make stuff with words. There is people who make stuff with programs. And I really believe that that whole creative culture, people didn't realize how creative programming is. And anybody who's done it of course knows that not only is it creative, but it's incredibly absorbing.
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