--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I didn't want there to be a computer on…" description: "\"I didn't want there to be a computer on stage. When I see people with computers on stage, I think, 'Are you sending e-mail?' That's so corny.\" — Pat Me..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e00/pat-metheny-8589_computer_i-didn-t-want-there-to-be-a-computer-on_2397701.jpg" --- # I didn't want there to be a computer on stage. When I see… ![“I didn't want there to be a computer on stage. When I see people with computers on stage, I think, 'Are you sending e-mail?' That's so corny.” quote by Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e00/pat-metheny-8589_computer_i-didn-t-want-there-to-be-a-computer-on_2397701.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e00/pat-metheny-8589_computer_i-didn-t-want-there-to-be-a-computer-on_2397701.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e00/pat-metheny-8589_computer_i-didn-t-want-there-to-be-a-computer-on_2397701.jpg) > “I didn't want there to be a computer on stage. When I see people with computers on stage, I think, 'Are you sending e-mail?' That's so corny.” [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He dislikes having computers on stage because it feels cliché and distracts from live performance authenticity. **In simple terms:** Stage tech can feel gimmicky. Key Takeaway Prefer genuine, tech‑free performances. Themes authenticity performance technology audience perception stagecraft Mood reflective critical Type observation commentary When to use this quote - concerts - music festivals - live streaming - stage design Key Concepts minimalism presence live music Questions to Reflect On - How does tech affect audience engagement? - Can simplicity enhance musical impact? A Different Perspective Live shows may need tech for sound or visuals, limiting pure minimalism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) ## Related quotes > [There's not much difference between what I appear to be on stage and what I am. I think people like that, that I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/there-s-not-much-difference-between-what-i-appear-to-be-on-stage-and/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [As actors, we're all encouraged to feel that each job is the last job. They plant some little electrode in your head at an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-day-lewis/as-actors-we-re-all-encouraged-to-feel-that-each-job-is-the-last-job/) [Daniel Day-Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-day-lewis/) > [I'm very quiet off stage. I think I'm a pretty boring person. I'm not super talkative; I spend a lot of my time running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-wolf/i-m-very-quiet-off-stage-i-think-i-m-a-pretty-boring-person-i-m-not/) [Michelle Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-wolf/) > [People think they know who I am, because I've played so many very, very out gay men on stage, and they think that's me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-lane/people-think-they-know-who-i-am-because-i-ve-played-so-many-very-very/) [Nathan Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-lane/) > [You either evolve or you don't. I don't like old people on a rock n' roll stage. I think they look pathetic, me included.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-slick/you-either-evolve-or-you-don-t-i-don-t-like-old-people-on-a-rock-n/) [Grace Slick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-slick/) > [Sometimes I look at Helen Mirren on stage and think, 'You really are the Queen.' You see people bowing to her at the stage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mccabe/sometimes-i-look-at-helen-mirren-on-stage-and-think-you-really-are/) [Richard McCabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mccabe/) > [When you walk off the stage, I think the end point is that you enjoyed yourself. I get to say that almost every time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maren-morris/when-you-walk-off-the-stage-i-think-the-end-point-is-that-you-enjoyed/) [Maren Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maren-morris/) > [That was my original dream, anyway, to be on stage. 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They think on stage I act too arrogant, too self-obsessed, solecistic, self-contained, synonyms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-burnham/people-do-complain-about-the-way-i-act-on-stage-they-think-on-stage-i/) [Bo Burnham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-burnham/) > [For aspiring comedians? Don't listen to me. Just go on stage and do what you think is funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burr/for-aspiring-comedians-don-t-listen-to-me-just-go-on-stage-and-do/) [Bill Burr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burr/) > [On stage, I think I'm 35. Working takes over my whole body and I become a younger man - that's why I won't stop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-forsyth/on-stage-i-think-i-m-35-working-takes-over-my-whole-body-and-i-become/) [Bruce Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-forsyth/) > [If you get something right, you really feel it, right in your chest, on stage. I think it's an incomparable experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-seinfeld/if-you-get-something-right-you-really-feel-it-right-in-your-chest-on/) [Jerry Seinfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-seinfeld/) > [We don't do lots of jamming on stage, but I think we have the attitude of exploring things and trying something new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anderson-east/we-don-t-do-lots-of-jamming-on-stage-but-i-think-we-have-the-attitude/) [Anderson East](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anderson-east/) ## More by Pat Metheny > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [Jazz is not something that can be defined through blunt instruments. It is much more poetic than that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/jazz-is-not-something-that-can-be-defined-through-blunt-instruments/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [I think I represent a more left-wing view of what jazz is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-think-i-represent-a-more-left-wing-view-of-what-jazz-is/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [I realized that equipment really had little to do with why I sound like the way I sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-realized-that-equipment-really-had-little-to-do-with-why-i-sound/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [Learning to play is mostly about learning to hear, and learning to really listen deeply to sound in a musical way is a lifetime's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/learning-to-play-is-mostly-about-learning-to-hear-and-learning-to/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [If we are going to list guitar influences, the biggest one by far is Wes Montgomery. 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Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [The display is the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hsun-huang/the-display-is-the-computer/) Jen-Hsun Huang > [It's interesting that the greatest minds of computer science, the founding fathers, like Alan Turing and Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, they all looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/it-s-interesting-that-the-greatest-minds-of-computer-science-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [One of our big goals in search is to make search that really understands exactly what you want, understands everything in the world. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-page/one-of-our-big-goals-in-search-is-to-make-search-that-really/) [Larry Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-page/) > [We are beginning to see intimations of this in the implantation of computer devices into the human body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kurzweil/we-are-beginning-to-see-intimations-of-this-in-the-implantation-of/) [Ray Kurzweil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kurzweil/) > [I'm from the South, so I'm very old-fashioned and I'm not very computer savvy at all, but I'm getting it. I understand that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-harmon/i-m-from-the-south-so-i-m-very-old-fashioned-and-i-m-not-very/) [Angie Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-harmon/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [A little bit more than 50% of what you see on screen is handcrafted and the other 50% was about emulating these textures on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-abreu/a-little-bit-more-than-50-of-what-you-see-on-screen-is-handcrafted/) [Alex Abreu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-abreu/) > [Well I'm trying to think what I put in... I think I put in 'why?' to see if I'd confuse the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/well-i-m-trying-to-think-what-i-put-in-i-think-i-put-in-why-to-see-if/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [Our brains are great at knowing what to forget. We actually have to teach computers to do the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/our-brains-are-great-at-knowing-what-to-forget-we-actually-have-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In nine months, a group of children left alone with a computer in any language will reach the same standard as an office secretary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugata-mitra/in-nine-months-a-group-of-children-left-alone-with-a-computer-in-any/) [Sugata Mitra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugata-mitra/) > [Why do you do what you do? Why do you dress the way you dress?Why do you do what you do with your time?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-conway/why-do-you-do-what-you-do-why-do-you-dress-the-way-you-dress-why-do/) [Tim Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-conway/) > [Yeah, I'm a geek. I read sci-fi and I watch sci-fi films. I love my computer and I love to fix it. I'm a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-benson/yeah-i-m-a-geek-i-read-sci-fi-and-i-watch-sci-fi-films-i-love-my/) [Amber Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-benson/) [Browse all 3,924 Computer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I didn't want there to be a computer on stage. When I see people with computers on stage, I think, 'Are you sending e-mail?' 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