"I think one of the greatest enemies in the use of technology, however, is the idea that if you use the technology you have to throw other things out of the window"
About this Quote
The phrasing matters. “Use the technology” keeps the claim pragmatic rather than utopian; he’s not selling progress, he’s defending adoption. And “throw other things out of the window” is vivid, almost comic, because it caricatures the absolutists on both sides - the reformer who treats tradition as dead weight and the traditionalist who assumes the new will erase the old. Eaton’s intent is to unstick policy from that false choice, to make room for hybridity: layering new capacities onto proven habits, keeping what works while modernizing what doesn’t.
Placed in the early-to-mid 19th century’s churn - canals, railroads, mechanized production, the administrative growth needed to manage them - the subtext is social stability. New infrastructure and tools didn’t just increase efficiency; they rebalanced power, labor, and regional influence. Eaton’s warning reads like an attempt to lower the temperature: adopt the tool, don’t surrender your judgment. The “enemy” is impatience dressed up as inevitability.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Eaton, John. (2026, January 16). I think one of the greatest enemies in the use of technology, however, is the idea that if you use the technology you have to throw other things out of the window. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-one-of-the-greatest-enemies-in-the-use-of-126298/
Chicago Style
Eaton, John. "I think one of the greatest enemies in the use of technology, however, is the idea that if you use the technology you have to throw other things out of the window." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-one-of-the-greatest-enemies-in-the-use-of-126298/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I think one of the greatest enemies in the use of technology, however, is the idea that if you use the technology you have to throw other things out of the window." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-one-of-the-greatest-enemies-in-the-use-of-126298/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
