--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The idea that, you know - when I was…" description: "\"The idea that, you know - when I was growing up - that everybody would carry around a portable communicating device, that was science fiction when I wa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/paul-allen-2295_growing-up_the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growin_1612784.png" --- # The idea that, you know - when I was growing up - that… ![“The idea that, you know - when I was growing up - that everybody would carry around a portable communicating device, that was science fiction when I was a kid.” quote by Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/paul-allen-2295_growing-up_the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growin_1612784.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/paul-allen-2295_growing-up_the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growin_1612784.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/paul-allen-2295_growing-up_the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growin_1612784.png) > “The idea that, you know - when I was growing up - that everybody would carry around a portable communicating device, that was science fiction when I was a kid.” [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early imagination of portable communication foreshadowed smartphones, showing how sci‑fi ideas become reality through innovation. **In simple terms:** Science fiction predicted smartphones. Key Takeaway Innovate beyond current tech. Themes technology vision innovation Mood optimistic inspired Type futuristic motivational When to use this quote - product development - R&D labs - startup pitches Key Concepts future studies design thinking Questions to Reflect On - What current fantasies might become everyday tools? - How do you turn speculative ideas into products? A Different Perspective Challenges of predicting market adoption. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) ## Related quotes > [I've been writing fiction since I was a kid. From the age of 15 to 25, I probably wrote more than 50 short stories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/i-ve-been-writing-fiction-since-i-was-a-kid-from-the-age-of-15-to-25/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [As a fan of science fiction and as a kid who loves monsters, science fiction movies and this, that and the other, there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-grevioux/as-a-fan-of-science-fiction-and-as-a-kid-who-loves-monsters-science/) [Kevin Grevioux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-grevioux/) > [I was always into science fiction as a kid. I loved science and tinkering with things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hanson/i-was-always-into-science-fiction-as-a-kid-i-loved-science-and/) [David Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hanson/) > [I read very, very little fiction as a kid. All the books I can remember are junior science books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-read-very-very-little-fiction-as-a-kid-all-the-books-i-can-remember/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I've loved sci-fi and speculative fiction since I was a kid. It was inevitable I'd try my hand at it at some point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/i-ve-loved-sci-fi-and-speculative-fiction-since-i-was-a-kid-it-was/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [You can tell the date of an old science fiction novel by every word on the page. Nothing dates harder and faster and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-can-tell-the-date-of-an-old-science-fiction-novel-by-every-word/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [As a result of reading science fiction when I was eight, I grew up with an interest in music, architecture, city planning, transportation, politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/as-a-result-of-reading-science-fiction-when-i-was-eight-i-grew-up/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“What we've done is make the categories of science fiction and fantasy larger, freer, and more inclusive than any other genre of contemporary literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/what-we-ve-done-is-make-the-categories-of-science-fiction-and-fantasy/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Science fiction and fantasy, though they seem to be about the future or fictional worlds, are always at their core really about the problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-joseph-adams/science-fiction-and-fantasy-though-they-seem-to-be-about-the-future/) [John Joseph Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-joseph-adams/) > [“The ultimate aim of reality is to become science fiction!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-of-kittim/the-ultimate-aim-of-reality-is-to-become-science-fiction/) [Eli Of Kittim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-of-kittim/) > [“I’m not sure sex qualifies as R and R, but it’s a compromise I can live with.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-morgen/i-m-not-sure-sex-qualifies-as-r-and-r-but-it-s-a-compromise-i-can/) Shelby Morgen > [“But eggshells were made to be broken, and slamming into a 100-story skyscraper at the speed of light would likely do the deed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-a-miller/but-eggshells-were-made-to-be-broken-and-slamming-into-a-100-story/) [Maureen A. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-a-miller/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) ## More by Paul Allen > [I just try to find things that either need to be done, should be done, or where I can make a difference in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/i-just-try-to-find-things-that-either-need-to-be-done-should-be-done/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [I'm not a video-game player at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/i-m-not-a-video-game-player-at-all/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [AI2 was born from a desire to create a system that could truly reason about knowledge, rather than just offer up what had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/ai2-was-born-from-a-desire-to-create-a-system-that-could-truly-reason/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [Some people can vent their anger, take a breath, and let it go, but I wasn't one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/some-people-can-vent-their-anger-take-a-breath-and-let-it-go-but-i/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [Any time you get to compete for the championship in a professional spot, it's just a magic thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/any-time-you-get-to-compete-for-the-championship-in-a-professional/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [Art fairs bring attention to up and coming artists and some amazing new works. They are a way to connect everyone with what's happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/art-fairs-bring-attention-to-up-and-coming-artists-and-some-amazing/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [Human beings are fragile things, and for the period of time it takes to get them to Mars and back, you have dangerous radiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/human-beings-are-fragile-things-and-for-the-period-of-time-it-takes/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [With documentary-film projects, you hope you highlight an area of concern people haven't thought about before. A lot of times, I'm asking myself -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/with-documentary-film-projects-you-hope-you-highlight-an-area-of/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [In my own work, I've tried to anticipate what's coming over the horizon, to hasten its arrival, and to apply it to people's lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/in-my-own-work-i-ve-tried-to-anticipate-what-s-coming-over-the/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [The NBA is intense, but the NFL is a whole 'nother level of intensity and dramatic, game-changing plays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/the-nba-is-intense-but-the-nfl-is-a-whole-nother-level-of-intensity/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [Sometimes it's very difficult to find fresh fruit on the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/sometimes-it-s-very-difficult-to-find-fresh-fruit-on-the-road/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [Computers are really, basically, computing elements and a lot of memory. They are pretty easy to understand, as compared to the brain, which was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/computers-are-really-basically-computing-elements-and-a-lot-of-memory/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [As quickly as it started, our business model evaporated. But while Traf-O-Data was technically a business failure, the understanding of microprocessors we absorbed was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/as-quickly-as-it-started-our-business-model-evaporated-but-while-traf/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [In an ideal world, everybody would find it easy to talk to the press... but not everybody is so excited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/in-an-ideal-world-everybody-would-find-it-easy-to-talk-to-the-press/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [Those fortunate to achieve great wealth should put it to work for the good of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/those-fortunate-to-achieve-great-wealth-should-put-it-to-work-for-the/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) [Explore all 173 Paul Allen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) ## More Growing up quotes > [Well, I've been politically involved for a really long time. Growing up in the segregated South, it was a very painful experience for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/well-i-ve-been-politically-involved-for-a-really-long-time-growing-up/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [ I failed, I think, seven \[or\] eight times before I finally got my first \[championship\]. It was just, you know, just about me growing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/i-failed-i-think-seven-or-eight-times-before-i-finally-got-my-first/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) > [I think kids growing up, if they were picked on and feeling inferior at 12, they're going to feel that way at 72. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/i-think-kids-growing-up-if-they-were-picked-on-and-feeling-inferior/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) > [We all got driven out of Manhattan. It was a very conducive place for artists when I was growing up, and now it's definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaby-hoffmann/we-all-got-driven-out-of-manhattan-it-was-a-very-conducive-place-for/) [Gaby Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaby-hoffmann/) > [I felt pretty good growing up. I didnt feel a lot of prejudice or racism. But I do remember, if there was going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-henry-hwang/i-felt-pretty-good-growing-up-i-didnt-feel-a-lot-of-prejudice-or/) [David Henry Hwang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-henry-hwang/) > [Love changes people, for better or for worse. You could look at it as a chance for you to change. The best kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-changes-people-for-better-or-for-worse-you-could-look-at-it-as-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wasn't a kid growing up thinking, 'One day I'll get an Oscar and make a speech.' That wasn't on my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-sandler/i-wasn-t-a-kid-growing-up-thinking-one-day-i-ll-get-an-oscar-and-make/) [Adam Sandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-sandler/) > [I was young, but to me that was underground music. I had never heard anything like Venom or any of that stuff growing up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-pajo/i-was-young-but-to-me-that-was-underground-music-i-had-never-heard/) [David Pajo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-pajo/) > [I didn't grow up thinking of movies as film, or art, but as movies, something to do on a Saturday afternoon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-pollack/i-didn-t-grow-up-thinking-of-movies-as-film-or-art-but-as-movies/) [Sydney Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-pollack/) > [Growing up I did commercials and things like that, but nothing serious. As I got older, my family is really hardcore into academics. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/portia-doubleday/growing-up-i-did-commercials-and-things-like-that-but-nothing-serious/) [Portia Doubleday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/portia-doubleday/) > [How am I supposed to make life choices when I still use my fingers to count and sing the whole alphabet to see what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-am-i-supposed-to-make-life-choices-when-i-still-use-my-fingers-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Grow up? Get herself straightened out? Her mind reeled from the verbal battering. No matter what she did, her father would tell her she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/grow-up-get-herself-straightened-out-her-mind-reeled-from-the-verbal/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [“The whole idea of it makes me feel Like I’m coming down with something, Something worse than any stomach ache Or the headaches I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/the-whole-idea-of-it-makes-me-feel-like-i-m-coming-down-with/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) [Browse all 7,738 Growing up quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The idea that, you know - when I was growing up - that everybody would carry around a portable communicating device, that was science fiction when I was a kid.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Allen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growing-up-that-everybody-would/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Growing up" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growing-up-that-everybody-would/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/paul-allen-2295_growing-up_the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growin_1612784.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/paul-allen-2295_growing-up_the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growin_1612784.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/paul-allen-2295_growing-up_the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growin_1612784.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The idea that, you know - when I was growing up - that everybody would carry around a portable communicating…” — Paul Allen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Allen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The idea that, you know -...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growing-up-that-everybody-would/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/the-idea-that-you-know-when-i-was-growing-up-that-everybody-would/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```