If we built houses the way we build software, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization. Clifford Stoll More Quotes by Clifford Stoll More Quotes From Clifford Stoll Data is not information, Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not understanding, Understanding is not wisdom. Clifford Stoll learning wisdom knowledge Treat your password like your toothbrush. Don't let anybody else use it, and get a new one every six months. Clifford Stoll witty meaningful funny Data isn't information. ... Information, unlike data, is useful. While there's a gulf between data and information, there's a wide ocean between information and knowledge. What turns the gears in our brains isn't information, but ideas, inventions, and inspiration. Knowledge-not information-implies understanding. And beyond knowledge lies what we should be seeking: wisdom. Clifford Stoll ocean inspiration lying The first time you do something, it's science. The second time, it's engineering. The third time, it's just being a technician. I'm a scientist. Once I do something, I want to do something else. Clifford Stoll engineering want firsts If you really want to know about the future, don't ask a technologist, a scientist, a physicist. No! Don't ask somebody who's writing code. No, if you want to know what society's going to be like in 20 years, ask a kindergarten teacher. Clifford Stoll writing teacher years Why is it that drug addicts and computer aficionados are both called users? Clifford Stoll addiction computer drug Data isn't information, any more than fifty tons of cement is a skyscraper. Clifford Stoll library data fifty The virtual community? The word virtual does not mean "virtue." It means "not." When I go to the store and they say: The shirt that you brought in is virtually done. It means it is not done, in the same way that the virtual community is not a community. There is no commitment there. When you log off, you are not a member of it anymore. My flesh and blood community, the sense of knowing my neighbor, knowing the guy across the street, having dinner with the people down the block, getting along with each other and making compromises, that's a genuine community with a commitment. Clifford Stoll block mean commitment The information highway is being sold to us as delivering information, but what it's really delivering is data... Unlike data, information has utility, timeliness, accuracy, a pedigree... Editors serve as barometers of quality, and most of an editor's time is spent saying no. Clifford Stoll data editors quality The Internet is a perfect diversion from learning... it opens many doors that lead to empty rooms. Clifford Stoll empty-rooms perfect doors There is a difference between having access to information and having the savvy it takes to interpret it. Clifford Stoll savvy information differences For years, we've been bludgeoned with the cliche "information is power." But information isn't power. After all, who's got the most information in your neighborhood? Librarians. And they're famous for having no power at all. And who has the most power in your community? Politicians. And they're notorious for being ill-informed. Clifford Stoll information-is-power community years Rather than bringing me closer to others, the time that I spend online isolates me from the most important people in my life, my family, my friends, my neighbourhood, my community. Clifford Stoll friends community people Minds think with ideas, not information No amount of data, bandwidth, or processing power can substitute for inspired thought. Clifford Stoll power science thinking Spending an evening on the World Wide Web is much like sitting down to a dinner of Cheetos, two hours later your fingers are yellow and you're no longer hungry, but you haven't been nourished. Clifford Stoll technology yellow two The Internet is a telephone system that's gotten uppity. Clifford Stoll telephones internet-users technology We'll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Internet. Uh, sure. Clifford Stoll stupid book people What's society going to be like when the kids today are phenomenally good at text messaging and spend a huge amount of on-screen time, but have never gone bowling together? Clifford Stoll technology together kids The Internet has no such organization - files are made available at random locations. To search through this chaos, we need smart tools, programs that find resources for us. Clifford Stoll smart organization needs While I admire the insights of many of the people in the world of computing, I get this cold feeling that I speak a different language. Clifford Stoll different feelings people
