Quotes from Steven Levy

Peter Samson and his friends had grown up with a specific relationship to the world, wherein things had meaning only if you found out how they worked.

There has never been an unexpectedly short debugging period in the history of computers.

Inevitably, we will spend a multiple of the amount we used to drop on a new router once the old one petered out. The New Wifi is the $5 latte to the standard cup of coffee.

It's almost impossible to totally eliminate terrible content in a huge open network.

Right after the keynote in which Steve Jobs introduced the iPod Shuffle, I went backstage with one question in mind: What makes an iPod an iPod? By then - January 11, 2005 - I had staked my own claim to iPod expertise, having written a 'Newsweek' cover story about Apple's transformational music player, and I was writing a book on it.

Two thoughts occur to just about any parent whose child is about to enter college. The first is, 'I can't believe how quickly the years have gone by.' The second: 'I can't believe how much it costs.' As one of those parents, I did my best to get past the disturbing first thought and tried to calm my churning stomach while dealing with the second.

All through the 1980s, Apple kept its prices high. There were many reasons Microsoft's much bigger user base managed to resist moving to the GUI - but price was high among them.

Though the first iPhone was expensive, it was such a refreshing new product that early users flocked to it.

Internet-centric companies have already begun changing the rules with binge-watching, flexible running times, fewer commercials, and crowd-sourced content. The brainpower - and just plain power - of the most valued tech firms will change things even more.

I am old enough to have grown up glued to a screen offering only three alternatives, each of which was an all-powerful national network that seemed permanently ensconced in the entertainment stratosphere.

The iPod Shuffle was something unique for Apple: a device stripped down to a single function.

Apple's iPod success led them to believe an even bigger breakthrough was possible with the iPhone. In some respects, the iPhone hype overwhelmed even Apple.

The vast majority of Americans perform sophisticated digital tasks on a daily basis. Grandmas and grandpas e-mail digital photos of their cruise trip and IM their kids in school. So a politician admitting that he or she can't bother to learn those things indicates a horse-and-buggy mentality.

Everyone in the tech business, from Kleiner Perkins venture capitalist John Doerr on down, says that the ruination of the industry, if not the entire country, will come from the inability to hire more brainiacs from countries like China and India.

The rush into scripted video by tech giants is going to accelerate an evolution of entertainment that's already underway. We're already moving away from the idea that drama is a 60-minute exercise with four bathroom breaks.

You can create art and beauty with a computer.

No one in Silicon Valley loves virtual reality or believes in its future as much as Clay Bavor.