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Steve Jobs, "Computers are like a bicycle for our minds." - Michael Lawrence Films

Michael Lawrence

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  • Recommended by 5 people: 5 on Hacker News.
  • A classic. People kept recommending it from 2010 to 2025.
  • Presented by Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple
  • An opinion. It argues one side of a question engineers disagree on.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

676K views20 years ago5 recommendations

History and cultureHistory of computingPeople who shaped computing

Steve Jobs shares his famous analogy comparing the efficiency of a human on a bicycle to how computers amplify human mental abilities.

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Why it's here

5 people recommend this

What people say. Highly recommended as an inspiring and classic quote that captures the essence of personal computers as tools for thought.

tuxguyon Hacker News • Recommends

On “26-year old iconoclast Steve Jobs' address to the Academy of Achievement in 1982”

…to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle, and a man on a bicycle -- a human on a bicycle -- blew the condor away, completely off the top of the charts. And that's what a computer is to me. A computer is the most remarkable tool that we've ever come up with, and it's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds. -- Steve Jobs, 1991 link to this video…
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joshstrangeon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Apples, Trees, and Quasimodes”

> the Bay Area tradition that treated computers not as office appliances but as tools for thought, instruments of liberation Missed a great chance to use the "bicycle for our minds" Steve Jobs quote (one of my favorite since it resonates so clearly with me) link to this video
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kqr2on Hacker News • Recommends

On “Being Steve Jobs's Boss”

Interview with Steve Jobs where he talks about the computer as a bicycle for the mind: link to this video To put it in context, he starts off by talking about the efficiency of animal locomotion. In the animal kingdom, the condor is one of the most efficient. It uses the least amount of energy to travel a kilometer. Human walking is rather inefficient in comparison. However, with a bicycle, a man can blow away a condor.
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tim333on Hacker News • Recommends

On “Apple's New Market”

The Steve Jobs quote mentioned about bicycles for the mind is cool link to this video . I know it's old but I hadn't seen it before. The rest of the article is kind of intellectual mush starting from saying "litigated against" in the first sentence when he hasn't and continuing in a similar vein.
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nntwozzon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Bicycle”

Immediately made me think of Steve Jobs and this great clip: "Computers are like a bicycle for our minds." link to this video
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acakon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Steve Jobs' Best Quotes”

The bicycle analogy to link to this video The computer is to the human mind, what the bicycle is to our ability to travel.
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sampoon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Automation Should Be Like Iron Man, Not Ultron”

> In 1968 Douglas Engelbart used the wonderfully space aged term "brain amplification" And Steve Jobs in 1990, "And that’s what a computer is to me ... it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds." link to this video
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aub3bhaton Hacker News • Mentions

On “Coding without Google”

I think I view programming as mental abstractions in action, or to put as Steve Jobs did bicycles for the mind. link to this video
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0wison Hacker News • Mentions

On “Electric Bike, Stupid Love of My Life”

Remember that bicycle are the most efficient way to move a human, that’s where the Steve Job’s quote « Computers are bicycles for the mind » comes from 1. This efficiency never stops to amaze me. And an electric bicycle makes it way more convenient while still being quite efficient. I share the love of electric bikes with the author and I am sure that huge progresses in UX and efficiency are it to come in the field. Would love to work on it one day ! (But hardware is hard…) I am happy to see the subject on HN frontpage. If anyone know any quirky projects on the subject, I would love to know more ! 1 : link to this video
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mnky9800non Hacker News • Mentions

On “Nvidia CEO predicts the death of coding”

This is a really ridiculous take that is created from sound bites. What he's says is not that coding will no longer exist, but that the purpose of computing is not coding but to solve interesting problems. We will only find interesting problems by having deep domain knowledge. Huang only argues the same as Steve Jobs, a computer is a bicycle for the mind: link to this video
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scrlkon Hacker News • Mentions

On “LLM-powered tools amplify developer capabilities rather than replacing them”

…Can you inject your way to Steph’s jumpshot? What’s the differentiator? This answer is inescapable in any contested domain. The unconventionally gifted will always be ascendant, and any device that’s available to everyone manifests in pronounced power laws in their favor. The strong get stronger. The fast get faster. Disproportionately so. 1 0 link to this video 1 link…
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