Love Quote by Michael K. Powell

Progress dressed up as destiny is Powell's target here, and he skewers it with the most basic weapon: the body. Five senses. Love and hate. The point isn't nostalgic; it's corrective. In moments of technological or market hype, institutions start talking as if people have been upgraded along with the tools. Powell yanks the conversation back to the fact that, whatever platform you're selling on, you're still selling to mammals with attention limits, social instincts, and old-fashioned grudges.

The subtext is a quiet indictment of the "new era" rhetoric that regularly accompanies media and communications shifts - Powell's home turf as a policymaker. When he says "marketers lose track of that", he's not just teasing ad people for chasing shiny objects. He's flagging a broader governance problem: industries built on persuasion tend to confuse distribution innovation with human transformation. That confusion justifies bad bets (and sometimes bad regulation): if the world has "changed", then anything goes; if humans haven't, then you can predict backlash, fatigue, and the reassertion of norms.

"But then it comes down to earth" carries a knowing shrug. Markets correct. Audiences resist. Scandals happen. The hype cycle collapses into the daily grind of trust, habit, and relationship. Powell's intent reads as pragmatic restraint: innovate, sure, but don't write your strategy - or your policy - as if human nature is the variable. The technology can be disruptive; the customer isn't a science fiction character.