The Great Geek Manual

Never underestimate the power of a million amateurs with keys to the factory.

- The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, 2006.

Millions of people now have the capacity to make a short film or album, or publish their thoughts to the world-and a surprisingly large number of them do. Talent is not universal but it is widely spread: Give enough people the capacity to create, and inevitably gems will emerge.

- The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, 2006.

These days our watercoolers are increasingly virtual-there are many different ones, and the people who gather around them are self-selected. We are turning from a mass market back into a niche nation, defined now not by our geography but by our interests.

- The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, 2006.

For the first time in history, hits and niches are on equal economic footing, both just entries in a database called up on demand, both equally worthy of being carried. Suddenly, popularity no longer has a monopoly on profitability.

- The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, 2006.

Free is really the gift of Silicon Valley to the world. It’s an economic force. It’s a technical force. It’s a deflationary force, if not handled right. It is abundance, as opposed to scarcity. Free is the most interesting thing.

- Chris Anderson

Sixty-some years ago, biochemical organisms began to assemble digital computers. Now digital computers are beginning to assemble biochemical organisms. Viewed from a distance, this looks like part of a life cycle. But which part? Are biochemical organisms the larval phase of digital computers? Or are digital computers the larval phase of biochemical organisms?

— Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe by George Dyson, 2012.

Organisms that evolve in the digital universe are going to be very different from us. To us, they will appear to be evolving ever faster, but to them, our evolution will appear to have begun decelerating at their moment of creation—the way our universe appears to have suddenly begun to cool after the big bang. Ulam’s speculations were correct. Our time is becoming the prototime for something else.

— Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe by George Dyson, 2012.

The first epoch in the digital era began with the introduction of the random-access storage matrix in 1951. The second era began with the introduction of the Internet. With the introduction of template-based addressing, a third era in computation has begun. What was once a cause for failure—not specifying a precise numerical address—will become a prerequisite to real-world success.

— Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe by George Dyson, 2012.