"Computers themselves, and software yet to be developed, will revolutionize the way we learn"
About this Quote
Jobs is doing what he did best here: selling the future in a single clean sentence, with just enough vagueness to feel inevitable. “Computers themselves” makes the hardware sound almost self-justifying, as if the mere presence of a machine carries moral and intellectual progress. Then he slips in the real persuasion move: “software yet to be developed.” That phrase isn’t about education as much as it’s about permission. It asks you to invest emotionally (and financially) in a promise that can’t be audited yet.
The intent is straightforward: position computing not as a tool for specialists but as the next public infrastructure, like electricity or textbooks. The subtext is sharper: the bottleneck in learning isn’t students or teachers, it’s outdated systems waiting to be disrupted. By framing change as a “revolution,” Jobs borrows the language of liberation while avoiding the messy politics of schools - budgets, labor, inequality, curriculum battles. Technology becomes the hero that doesn’t have to negotiate.
The context matters because Jobs came up in a moment when personal computing was trying to escape the corporate mainframe and enter everyday life. Tying computers to learning was strategic: education is the most sympathetic use-case imaginable, a way to sanitize the profit motive and make adoption feel civic-minded. It’s also a bet on platform thinking before the term was popular: the hardware is the gateway, the yet-unwritten software is the ecosystem, and “the way we learn” is the market big enough to justify both.
The intent is straightforward: position computing not as a tool for specialists but as the next public infrastructure, like electricity or textbooks. The subtext is sharper: the bottleneck in learning isn’t students or teachers, it’s outdated systems waiting to be disrupted. By framing change as a “revolution,” Jobs borrows the language of liberation while avoiding the messy politics of schools - budgets, labor, inequality, curriculum battles. Technology becomes the hero that doesn’t have to negotiate.
The context matters because Jobs came up in a moment when personal computing was trying to escape the corporate mainframe and enter everyday life. Tying computers to learning was strategic: education is the most sympathetic use-case imaginable, a way to sanitize the profit motive and make adoption feel civic-minded. It’s also a bet on platform thinking before the term was popular: the hardware is the gateway, the yet-unwritten software is the ecosystem, and “the way we learn” is the market big enough to justify both.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning |
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