QuoteProject
People will not die. Isn't this the creed of the new culture? People will be absorbed in streams of information. I know nothing about this. Computers will die. They're dying in their present form. They're just about dead as distinct units.
Don Delillo
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that while people continue to thrive in a culture rich with information, computers as distinct entities are becoming obsolete.

Don Delillo's quote reflects on the transformation of society in the face of technological advancement. He posits that while human beings remain vibrant and engaged within a vast flow of information, the traditional form of computers is nearing obsolescence, hinting at a shift in how we interact with technology and the potential for new forms to emerge that will redefine our relationship with information and machines.

Themes

TechnologyInformationObsolescenceComputersCulture

In practice

Example use cases

During a presentation on the future of technology, one could use this quote to highlight the evolution of computers in society.

More from Don Delillo

The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
Don DelilloRead
War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country.
Don DelilloRead
American writers ought to stand and live in the margins, and be more dangerous.
Don DelilloRead
For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking.
Don DelilloRead
I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.
Don DelilloRead
[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. 
He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way he’s carrying a gun. 
This is one of the essential images in American mythology.
Don DelilloRead

Similar quotes

Despite the dazzling successes of modern technology and the unprecedented power of modern military systems, they suffer from a common and catastrophic fault. While providing us with a bountiful supply of food, with great industrial plants, with high-speed transportation, and with military weapons of unprecedented power, they threaten our very survival.
Barry CommonerRead
With tech companies, whoever's the leader is always questioned, you know. They say, 'Is this the end of them?' And - there's more - more times people think that's the case than it really is the case.
Bill GatesRead
Human language is the new UI layer, bots are like new applications, and digital assistants are meta apps. Intelligence is infused into all of your interactions.
Satya NadellaRead
The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times, sometimes one forgets which it is.
E. F. SchumacherRead
Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe.
Nikola TeslaRead
We say that the world's magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. Time and Space died yesterday. We already live in the absolute, because we have created eternal, omnipresent speed.
Filippo Tommaso MarinettiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.