--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People try to treat technology as an…" description: "\"People try to treat technology as an object, and it can't be. It can only be a channel.\" — Jaron Lanier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/jaron-lanier-2241_channel_people-try-to-treat-technology-as-an-obj_1217480.png" --- # People try to treat technology as an object, and it can't… ![“People try to treat technology as an object, and it can't be. It can only be a channel.” quote by Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/jaron-lanier-2241_channel_people-try-to-treat-technology-as-an-obj_1217480.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/jaron-lanier-2241_channel_people-try-to-treat-technology-as-an-obj_1217480.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/jaron-lanier-2241_channel_people-try-to-treat-technology-as-an-obj_1217480.png) > “People try to treat technology as an object, and it can't be. It can only be a channel.” [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Technology should be viewed as a medium for interaction, not as a standalone object. **In simple terms:** Tech is a channel, not an object. Key Takeaway Use tech as a conduit for connection. Themes technology philosophy interaction Mood thoughtful philosophical Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - digital communication - education - artistic expression Key Concepts medium theory human-centered design Questions to Reflect On - How can we reframe tech as a channel? - What practices emphasize tech as a medium? A Different Perspective Treating tech as object can limit creative potential. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [When will we make the same breakthroughs in the way we treat each other as we have made in technology?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-zeldin/when-will-we-make-the-same-breakthroughs-in-the-way-we-treat-each/) [Theodore Zeldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-zeldin/) > [Learn to be a channel, not a reservoir. Let things flow to you and through you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/learn-to-be-a-channel-not-a-reservoir-let-things-flow-to-you-and/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [What right does a politician have to tell me what I can and cannot watch? 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ACCESS WILL BE RESTORED…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/there-will-be-no-further-misuse-of-this-channel-you-are-disturbing/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [My tears will keep no channel, know no laws to guide their streams, but like the waves, their cause, run with disturbance till they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleveland/my-tears-will-keep-no-channel-know-no-laws-to-guide-their-streams-but/) [John Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleveland/) > [The tides which flow and lapse in the Bristol Channel are often distained by the freshets of many streams falling through wooded coombes below…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-williamson/the-tides-which-flow-and-lapse-in-the-bristol-channel-are-often/) [Henry Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-williamson/) > [I've always been interested in socially political, or overtly political, comedy. And I guess I've always liked to channel some kind of personal element…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-oliver/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-socially-political-or-overtly/) [John Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-oliver/) ## More by Jaron Lanier > [If we allow our self-congratulatory adoration of technology to distract us from our own contact with each other, then somehow the original agenda has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/if-we-allow-our-self-congratulatory-adoration-of-technology-to/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Individual web pages as they first appeared in the early 1990s had the flavour of person-hood. MySpace preserved some of that flavour, though a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/individual-web-pages-as-they-first-appeared-in-the-early-1990s-had/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Style used to be an interaction between the human soul and tools that were limiting. In the digital era, it will have to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/style-used-to-be-an-interaction-between-the-human-soul-and-tools-that/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [We should talk about the ultimate cause of war. 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Little kids know their Unix path punctuation so they can get around the Web,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/the-mass-culture-of-childhood-right-now-is-astonishingly-technical/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Wal-Mart impoverished its own customer base. Google is facing exactly the same issue long-term, although not yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/wal-mart-impoverished-its-own-customer-base-google-is-facing-exactly/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) [Explore all 173 Jaron Lanier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) ## More Channel quotes > [I've always been interested in socially political, or overtly political, comedy. 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I'm pretty sure I had every piece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-holt/i-watched-the-disney-channel-all-the-time-growing-up-lizzie-mcguire/) [Olivia Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-holt/) > [I normally ignore the History Channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diablo-cody/i-normally-ignore-the-history-channel/) [Diablo Cody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diablo-cody/) > [We are now focused on the brand, not the channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-katz/we-are-now-focused-on-the-brand-not-the-channel/) [Karen Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-katz/) > [I was just a little girl watching TV and wanting to be in it. My parents had no idea how to get me there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-song/i-was-just-a-little-girl-watching-tv-and-wanting-to-be-in-it-my/) [Brenda Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-song/) > [My guilty pleasures tend to be weird, old shows that I find on channel 20 that I've never seen before like 'Voyage to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kitsis/my-guilty-pleasures-tend-to-be-weird-old-shows-that-i-find-on-channel/) [Edward Kitsis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kitsis/) > [I actually love the Discovery Channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-flintoff/i-actually-love-the-discovery-channel/) [Andrew Flintoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-flintoff/) > [I'm a big fan of 'National Geographic', the magazine and the channel. Anything to do with the natural world. For years, when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-weston-jones/i-m-a-big-fan-of-national-geographic-the-magazine-and-the-channel/) [Tom Weston-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-weston-jones/) > [What right does a politician have to tell me what I can and cannot watch? Change the channel if you don't like what's on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-carey/what-right-does-a-politician-have-to-tell-me-what-i-can-and-cannot/) [Drew Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-carey/) > [Learn to be a channel, not a reservoir. Let things flow to you and through you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/learn-to-be-a-channel-not-a-reservoir-let-things-flow-to-you-and/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [Celebrities have been using MySpace since the site's launch and it's a natural extension for us to now offer them an aggregated channel where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-anderson/celebrities-have-been-using-myspace-since-the-site-s-launch-and-it-s/) [Tom Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-anderson/) Browse all 229 Channel quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People try to treat technology as an object, and it can't be. 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