--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have long been alarmed by people's…" description: "\"I have long been alarmed by people's sheeplike acceptance of the term 'computer technology' - it sounds so objective and inexorable - when most compute..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/ted-nelson-13662_acceptance_i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-she_229140.png" --- # I have long been alarmed by people's sheeplike acceptance… ![“I have long been alarmed by people's sheeplike acceptance of the term 'computer technology' - it sounds so objective and inexorable - when most computer technology is really a bunch of ideas turned into conventions and packages.” quote by Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/ted-nelson-13662_acceptance_i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-she_229140.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/ted-nelson-13662_acceptance_i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-she_229140.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/ted-nelson-13662_acceptance_i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-she_229140.png) > “I have long been alarmed by people's sheeplike acceptance of the term 'computer technology' - it sounds so objective and inexorable - when most computer technology is really a bunch of ideas turned into conventions and packages.” [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The phrase 'computer technology' hides that it is built on ideas and conventions, not inevitable forces. **In simple terms:** Tech is ideas, not destiny. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about tech's inevitability. Themes technology language philosophy Mood critical analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - software development - policy making - education - public discourse Key Concepts social construction semantics innovation Questions to Reflect On - How do conventions shape tech? - Can we change tech narratives? A Different Perspective It may overlook the role of human agency in shaping tech. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acceptance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceptance/) [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computer technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-technology/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Inexorable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inexorable/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [What I love about new technology is that it really pushes the art. It really pushes it in a way that you can't imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rodriguez/what-i-love-about-new-technology-is-that-it-really-pushes-the-art-it/) [Robert Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rodriguez/) > [Technology really helps our daily lives, but things like location services are actually quite creepy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lawther/technology-really-helps-our-daily-lives-but-things-like-location/) [Alex Lawther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lawther/) > [The computers in Atlantis were infinitely evolved as opposed to what we see today. The science, the technology, everything was really done with light.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-computers-in-atlantis-were-infinitely-evolved-as-opposed-to-what/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [In my books the technology that I choose to talk about has to serve the themes. What that means is that I end up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-wilson/in-my-books-the-technology-that-i-choose-to-talk-about-has-to-serve/) [Daniel H. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-wilson/) > [We're seeing how the videos translate to the live shows and how the technology is really reaching kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-aames/we-re-seeing-how-the-videos-translate-to-the-live-shows-and-how-the/) [Willie Aames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-aames/) > [I'm not anti-technology at all, really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-m-not-anti-technology-at-all-really/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [I do think technology really has changed the way that we communicate with each other and texting can be the way to communicate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-purser/i-do-think-technology-really-has-changed-the-way-that-we-communicate/) [Shannon Purser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-purser/) > [The technology is really where all of the changes have taken place, but the fundamentals of a good story being the basis of every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-d-zanuck/the-technology-is-really-where-all-of-the-changes-have-taken-place/) [Richard D. Zanuck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-d-zanuck/) > [Ajax isn't a technology. It's really several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-james-garrett/ajax-isn-t-a-technology-it-s-really-several-technologies-each/) [Jesse James Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-james-garrett/) > [All of technology, really, is about maximizing free options.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/all-of-technology-really-is-about-maximizing-free-options/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We are stuck with technology when all we really want is just stuff that works. How do you recognize something that is still technology?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/we-are-stuck-with-technology-when-all-we-really-want-is-just-stuff/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [The future of technology is not really location-based apps; it is about making location completely unimportant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/balaji-srinivasan/the-future-of-technology-is-not-really-location-based-apps-it-is/) [Balaji Srinivasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/balaji-srinivasan/) > [If one cannot use technology then it is really unfortunate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uddhav-thackeray/if-one-cannot-use-technology-then-it-is-really-unfortunate/) [Uddhav Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uddhav-thackeray/) > [Every technology really needs to be shipped with a special manual - not how to use it but why, when and for what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/every-technology-really-needs-to-be-shipped-with-a-special-manual-not/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [The weekends are really important to me; the use of technology is really important to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-braly/the-weekends-are-really-important-to-me-the-use-of-technology-is/) [Angela Braly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-braly/) ## More by Ted Nelson > [The problem is not software 'friendliness'. It is conceptual clarity. A globe does not say, 'good morning'. It is simple and clear, not 'friendly'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/the-problem-is-not-software-friendliness-it-is-conceptual-clarity-a/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [How is MS-DOS like MSG? Both raise your blood pressure and give you a tightening sensation around your forehead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/how-is-ms-dos-like-msg-both-raise-your-blood-pressure-and-give-you-a/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [You can and must understand computers NOW.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/you-can-and-must-understand-computers-now/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [Power corrupts, and obsolete power corrupts obsoletely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/power-corrupts-and-obsolete-power-corrupts-obsoletely/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [I am looking at it from the point of view of a harried user, which I am, and I believe that I am much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/i-am-looking-at-it-from-the-point-of-view-of-a-harried-user-which-i/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [The Web is trivially simple - massively successful and its like Karaoke - anybody can do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/the-web-is-trivially-simple-massively-successful-and-its-like-karaoke/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [So, I was always frustrated having to write and having to cut things. Why should you have to cut anything?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/so-i-was-always-frustrated-having-to-write-and-having-to-cut-things/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [Telling computer guys that they need to have permission to quote things is like having to tell little children about Death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/telling-computer-guys-that-they-need-to-have-permission-to-quote/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [The ideas keep going, you have the material, you cut because there's a limit to the space allowed to you. And the space is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/the-ideas-keep-going-you-have-the-material-you-cut-because-there-s-a/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [In my second year in graduate school, I took a computer course and that was like lightening striking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/in-my-second-year-in-graduate-school-i-took-a-computer-course-and/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [The technicalities matter a lot, but the unifying vision matters more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/the-technicalities-matter-a-lot-but-the-unifying-vision-matters-more/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [Making things easy is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/making-things-easy-is-hard/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [Project Xanadu is essentially my trademark. It was originally, and has returned to my arms as that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/project-xanadu-is-essentially-my-trademark-it-was-originally-and-has/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [Everything is deeply intertwingled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/everything-is-deeply-intertwingled/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [Right now you are a prisoner of each application you use. You have only the options that were given you by the developer of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/right-now-you-are-a-prisoner-of-each-application-you-use-you-have/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) [Explore all 49 Ted Nelson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) ## More Acceptance quotes > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/when-one-fib-becomes-due-as-it-were-you-must-forge-another-to-take-up/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Acceptance of death when it arrives is one thing, but to allow it to upstage the joys of living is ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-blythe/acceptance-of-death-when-it-arrives-is-one-thing-but-to-allow-it-to/) [Ronald Blythe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-blythe/) > [“Loving someone who does not love you back hurts, alot, i know. It is liking seeing these pair of shoes at the retail store…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nomthandazo-tsembeni/loving-someone-who-does-not-love-you-back-hurts-alot-i-know-it-is/) [Nomthandazo Tsembeni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nomthandazo-tsembeni/) > [Take responsibily for your past, the bad memories of poor decisions you took were your choices once, and you liked them for the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aruho-marvin/take-responsibily-for-your-past-the-bad-memories-of-poor-decisions/) [Aruho Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aruho-marvin/) > [Let us learn to accept and appreciate things now, and we'll find more happiness in every moment we live. Happiness comes when we stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/let-us-learn-to-accept-and-appreciate-things-now-and-we-ll-find-more/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [“Love first; ask questions later.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-courtney/love-first-ask-questions-later/) [Jeremy Courtney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-courtney/) > [“There was beauty in chaos, she'd just never known it before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-linsmeier/there-was-beauty-in-chaos-she-d-just-never-known-it-before/) [Amanda Linsmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-linsmeier/) > [Accepting the challenges in life makes it interesting and overcoming them makes it eloquent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/accepting-the-challenges-in-life-makes-it-interesting-and-overcoming/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Acceptance is the only thing you should teach. Be it Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Dalit, you must inculcate acceptance, not tolerance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-haasan/acceptance-is-the-only-thing-you-should-teach-be-it-christian-muslim/) [Kamal Haasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-haasan/) > [There just seems to be more acceptance now of other kinds of British films, than the picture-postcard ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-roth/there-just-seems-to-be-more-acceptance-now-of-other-kinds-of-british/) [Tim Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-roth/) > [You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/you-should-never-hate-anyone-even-your-worst-enemies-everyone-has/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 3,960 Acceptance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceptance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have long been alarmed by people's sheeplike acceptance of the term 'computer technology' - it sounds so objective and inexorable - when most computer technology is really a bunch of ideas turned into conventions and packages.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ted Nelson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-sheeplike-acceptance-of-the-term/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Acceptance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-sheeplike-acceptance-of-the-term/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/ted-nelson-13662_acceptance_i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-she_229140.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/ted-nelson-13662_acceptance_i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-she_229140.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/ted-nelson-13662_acceptance_i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-she_229140.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have long been alarmed by people's sheeplike acceptance of the term 'computer technology' - it sounds so…” — Ted Nelson", "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": "Ted Nelson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have long been alarmed by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-sheeplike-acceptance-of-the-term/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/i-have-long-been-alarmed-by-people-s-sheeplike-acceptance-of-the-term/#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 } } ] } ```