--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I watch for emergent technologies and pay…" description: "\"I watch for emergent technologies and pay attention to what people say they'll be good for, then see what we actually use them for. It never occurred t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e9/william-gibson-642_attention_i-watch-for-emergent-technologies-and-pa_1437822.jpg" --- # I watch for emergent technologies and pay attention to… ![“I watch for emergent technologies and pay attention to what people say they'll be good for, then see what we actually use them for. It never occurred to me that a tiny telephone with a wireless transceiver would do whatever it is that it's done to us.” quote by William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e9/william-gibson-642_attention_i-watch-for-emergent-technologies-and-pa_1437822.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e9/william-gibson-642_attention_i-watch-for-emergent-technologies-and-pa_1437822.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e9/william-gibson-642_attention_i-watch-for-emergent-technologies-and-pa_1437822.jpg) > “I watch for emergent technologies and pay attention to what people say they'll be good for, then see what we actually use them for. It never occurred to me that a tiny telephone with a wireless transceiver would do whatever it is that it's done to us.” [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Observes that emerging tech is often hyped before real-world utility becomes clear, using the telephone as a hindsight example. **In simple terms:** Tech hype precedes practical use; we often misjudge future impact. Key Takeaway Stay skeptical of hype and focus on actual adoption. Themes technology skepticism innovation adoption history Mood analytical cautious reflective Type explanatory thought‑provoking informative When to use this quote - evaluating new gadgets - investing in startups - planning tech strategy - educating teams on realistic timelines - assessing market readiness Key Concepts diffusion of innovation prediction bias technology lifecycle Questions to Reflect On - What criteria help you assess true utility? - How can you balance optimism with realism? A Different Perspective Hype can drive premature investment and disappointment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [We don't legislate emergent technologies into existence. We almost never do. They just emerge, dragged forth by Adam Smith's invisible hand. Then we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/we-don-t-legislate-emergent-technologies-into-existence-we-almost/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [The funny thing is that even engineers and techs don't know what a tiny telephone connector is - people call them TT connectors. Engineers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vanderslice/the-funny-thing-is-that-even-engineers-and-techs-don-t-know-what-a/) [John Vanderslice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vanderslice/) > [The nature of emergent technology is, as Kevin Kelly once said, right out of control. It's an element of human evolution that's completely out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/the-nature-of-emergent-technology-is-as-kevin-kelly-once-said-right/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“In such a view, time is not emergent. It is, in fact, the only aspect of reality that cannot emerge from a more fundamental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-mangabeira-unger/in-such-a-view-time-is-not-emergent-it-is-in-fact-the-only-aspect-of/) [Roberto Mangabeira Unger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-mangabeira-unger/) > [...the emergent capabilities bursting forth from the revolutionary advances in the life sciences are about to make us the principal agent of evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/the-emergent-capabilities-bursting-forth-from-the-revolutionary/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Safety is an emergent property of systems, not a component property.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-leveson/safety-is-an-emergent-property-of-systems-not-a-component-property/) [Nancy Leveson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-leveson/) > [ \[With Photosynth,\] all of those photos become linked together, and they make something emergent that's greater than the sum of the parts. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-aguera-y-arcas/with-photosynth-all-of-those-photos-become-linked-together-and-they/) Blaise Aguera y Arcas > [Emergent properties result from interactions between individual parts, so it follows that a top down analytical approach that begins with the whole and dissects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-de-landa/emergent-properties-result-from-interactions-between-individual-parts/) [Manuel De Landa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-de-landa/) > [“Emergence: A phenomenon where an interaction among objects at one level generates new types of objects at another level. The emergent characteristic requires a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-jolly/emergence-a-phenomenon-where-an-interaction-among-objects-at-one/) [Rich Jolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-jolly/) > [“Emergent Behavior’ – that the behavior of the sum of a set of isolated individuals cannot be deduced from the behavior of any of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/emergent-behavior-that-the-behavior-of-the-sum-of-a-set-of-isolated/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I, and all the complex things around me, exist only because many things were assembled in a very precise way. The 'emergent' properties are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-christian/i-and-all-the-complex-things-around-me-exist-only-because-many-things/) [David Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-christian/) > [“The Emergent resides in the people's seats, not the emperor's box.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nissim-levy/the-emergent-resides-in-the-people-s-seats-not-the-emperor-s-box/) Nissim Levy > [The emergent movement is creating a mushiness to the thinking patterns in Christianity today. It's like we really can't stand for anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ludy/the-emergent-movement-is-creating-a-mushiness-to-the-thinking/) [Eric Ludy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ludy/) > [There is an emergent enlightenment appearing today, unique to no particular culture or ethnicity. Anyone who chooses to be, is its conduit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/there-is-an-emergent-enlightenment-appearing-today-unique-to-no/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“diverse, connected, interdependent entities whose behavior is determined by rules, which may adapt, but need not. The interactions of these entities often produce phenomena…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-e-page/diverse-connected-interdependent-entities-whose-behavior-is/) [Scott E. Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-e-page/) ## More by William Gibson > [“We have no idea, now, of who or what the inhabitants of our future might be. In that sense, we have no future. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/we-have-no-idea-now-of-who-or-what-the-inhabitants-of-our-future/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“No," said Blackwell, "she won't, because that would be a violation of the very personal terms I will have established in our conversation. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/no-said-blackwell-she-won-t-because-that-would-be-a-violation-of-the/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Music was strange that way though; there were people into any damned thing, it seemed like, and if you got enough of them together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/music-was-strange-that-way-though-there-were-people-into-any-damned/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [When I start writing a new imaginary future, I have no idea what it is. The characters arrive first. They help me figure out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-i-start-writing-a-new-imaginary-future-i-have-no-idea-what-it-is/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Hollis thought he looked like William Burroughs, minus the bohemian substrate (or perhaps the methadone). Like someone who'd be invited quail shooting with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/hollis-thought-he-looked-like-william-burroughs-minus-the-bohemian/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Fiction is an illusion wrought with many small, conventionally symbolic marks, triggering visions in the minds of others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/fiction-is-an-illusion-wrought-with-many-small-conventionally/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [The experience of celebrity is gradually being democratized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/the-experience-of-celebrity-is-gradually-being-democratized/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [I don't generate a storyline and then fill it out in the course of writing. The story actually generates in the course of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/i-don-t-generate-a-storyline-and-then-fill-it-out-in-the-course-of/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“What happened to your arm?" she asked me one night in the Gentleman Loser, the three of us drinking at a small table in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/what-happened-to-your-arm-she-asked-me-one-night-in-the-gentleman/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“In Heathrow a vast chunk of memory detached itself from a blank bowl of airport sky and fell on him. He vomited into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/in-heathrow-a-vast-chunk-of-memory-detached-itself-from-a-blank-bowl/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [And, for an instant, she stared directly into those soft blue eyes and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/and-for-an-instant-she-stared-directly-into-those-soft-blue-eyes-and/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [ \[When\] Johnny Mnemonic was coming out and I realized that all the kids that worked in 7-11 knew more - or thought they knew… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-johnny-mnemonic-was-coming-out-and-i-realized-that-all-the-kids/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Andrea maintained that men like Alain lied so constantly, so passionately, that some basic distinction had been lost. They were artists in their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/andrea-maintained-that-men-like-alain-lied-so-constantly-so/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Because he had a good agent, he had a good contract. Because he had a good contract, he was in Singapore an hour after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/because-he-had-a-good-agent-he-had-a-good-contract-because-he-had-a/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) [Explore all 430 William Gibson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I watch for emergent technologies and pay attention to what people say they'll be good for, then see what we actually use them for. 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