--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The crucial legacy of the personal…" description: "\"The crucial legacy of the personal computer is that anyone can write code for it and give or sell that code to you - and the vendors of the PC and its ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e8/jonathan-zittrain-12491_about_the-crucial-legacy-of-the-personal-compu_2764889.jpg" --- # The crucial legacy of the personal computer is that anyone… ![“The crucial legacy of the personal computer is that anyone can write code for it and give or sell that code to you - and the vendors of the PC and its operating system have no more to say about it than your phone company does about which answering machine you decide to buy.” quote by Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e8/jonathan-zittrain-12491_about_the-crucial-legacy-of-the-personal-compu_2764889.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e8/jonathan-zittrain-12491_about_the-crucial-legacy-of-the-personal-compu_2764889.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e8/jonathan-zittrain-12491_about_the-crucial-legacy-of-the-personal-compu_2764889.jpg) > “The crucial legacy of the personal computer is that anyone can write code for it and give or sell that code to you - and the vendors of the PC and its operating system have no more to say about it than your phone company does about which answering machine you decide to buy.” [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal computers empower individuals to create and control software, limiting vendor dominance like phone companies. **In simple terms:** PCs give users software control. Key Takeaway Support open platforms. Themes technology empowerment ownership Mood analytical optimistic Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - software development - entrepreneurship - digital rights - consumer choice Key Concepts law economics Questions to Reflect On - How to balance openness with safety? - What policies protect users? A Different Perspective Open platforms face security challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Answering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answering/) [Answering Machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answering-machine/) [Anyone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anyone/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Buy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buy/) [Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/code/) [Code Sell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/code-sell-3197836/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Crucial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crucial/) [Crucial Legacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crucial-legacy-3197835/) [Decide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decide/) [Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/does/) [Give](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/give/) [Legacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legacy/) [Legacy Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legacy-personal-3197834/) [Machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machine/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Operating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/operating/) [Operating system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/operating-system/) [Pc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pc/) [Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal/) [Personal Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-computer-453048/) [Phone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phone/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say/) [Sell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sell/) [System](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/system/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Than](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/than/) [Vendors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vendors/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) [Your](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your/) ## Related quotes > [“Here's what the death knell for the personal computer will sound like: Mainly I use my phone/paid, but I still use my PC to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/here-s-what-the-death-knell-for-the-personal-computer-will-sound-like/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hiring people to write code to sell is not the same as hiring people to design and build durable, usable, dependable software.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-constantine/hiring-people-to-write-code-to-sell-is-not-the-same-as-hiring-people/) [Larry Constantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-constantine/) > [The problem is, we're moving to software-as-service, which can be yanked or transformed at any moment. The ability of your PC to run independent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-problem-is-we-re-moving-to-software-as-service-which-can-be/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [I'm interested in helping secure the PC - we need innovation here. It's not just hug your PC, hate the iPhone. In fact I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/i-m-interested-in-helping-secure-the-pc-we-need-innovation-here-it-s/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [With current technology it is possible to put four floppy disk drives in a personal computer. It is just that doing so would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-current-technology-it-is-possible-to-put-four-floppy-disk-drives/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To better understand why you need a personal computer, let's take a look at the pathetic mess you call your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/to-better-understand-why-you-need-a-personal-computer-let-s-take-a/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [I talk to myself through the computer. I ask myself questions, leave things to be looked at again, things that you would do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-cray/i-talk-to-myself-through-the-computer-i-ask-myself-questions-leave/) [Seymour Cray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-cray/) > [With the greatest of respect, I have watched Apple from the day it started. I was publishing magazines about the Apple II before most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/with-the-greatest-of-respect-i-have-watched-apple-from-the-day-it/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [The most important work I got a chance to be involved in, no matter what I do, is the personal computer... I even knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-most-important-work-i-got-a-chance-to-be-involved-in-no-matter/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [“The phrase “personal computer” is part of the language now, but when it was first used it had a deliberately audacious sound, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-graham/the-phrase-personal-computer-is-part-of-the-language-now-but-when-it/) [Paul Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-graham/) > [The vast majority of people do not have, nor will they ever have a personal computer. They haven't been exposed to Windows or Office,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-elop/the-vast-majority-of-people-do-not-have-nor-will-they-ever-have-a/) [Stephen Elop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-elop/) > [The term, information at your fingertips, is to remind people what a broad role the personal computer will be playing. It's not a computation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-term-information-at-your-fingertips-is-to-remind-people-what-a/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Well, the thought that everybody might have a personal computer at their desk or their home was certainly not on the mainstream of anybody's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/well-the-thought-that-everybody-might-have-a-personal-computer-at/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [The biggest effect of the personal computer revolution has been to allow millions and millions of people to experience computers themselves decades before they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-biggest-effect-of-the-personal-computer-revolution-has-been-to/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [No greater invention was ever devised for creating the delusion of productivity than the personal computer, except for religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rock-cowles/no-greater-invention-was-ever-devised-for-creating-the-delusion-of/) [Rock Cowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rock-cowles/) ## More by Jonathan Zittrain > [The Internet is a collective hallucination: one of the best humanity has ever generated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-internet-is-a-collective-hallucination-one-of-the-best-humanity/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [Instead of using new technologies to preserve for ready discovery material that might in the past never have been stored, or deleting everything as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/instead-of-using-new-technologies-to-preserve-for-ready-discovery/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [How an individual's reputation is protected online is too important and subtle a policy matter to be legislated by a high court, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/how-an-individual-s-reputation-is-protected-online-is-too-important/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [Despite outsiders being invited to write software, the iPhone thus remains tightly tethered to its vendor - the way that the Kindle is controlled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/despite-outsiders-being-invited-to-write-software-the-iphone-thus/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [The Internet's distinct configuration may have made cyberattacks easy to launch, but it has also kindled the flame of freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-internet-s-distinct-configuration-may-have-made-cyberattacks-easy/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [The last refuge of privacy cannot be placed solely in law or technology. It must repose in both, and a thoughtful combination of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-last-refuge-of-privacy-cannot-be-placed-solely-in-law-or/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [Another view is Western companies chartered in societies that believe in this kind of censorship shouldn't be carrying water for societies that do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/another-view-is-western-companies-chartered-in-societies-that-believe/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [I'm interested in harnessing the good will and distributed power of people, including novices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/i-m-interested-in-harnessing-the-good-will-and-distributed-power-of/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [The Internet works thanks to loose but trusted connections among its many constituent parts, with easy entry and exit for new Internet service providers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-internet-works-thanks-to-loose-but-trusted-connections-among-its/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [A free Net may depend on some wisely developed and implemented locks and a community ethos that secures the keys to those locks among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/a-free-net-may-depend-on-some-wisely-developed-and-implemented-locks/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [All sorts of factors contribute to what Facebook or Twitter present in a feed, or what Google or Bing show us in search results.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/all-sorts-of-factors-contribute-to-what-facebook-or-twitter-present/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [I think social networking is absolutely here to stay. 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