I’ve always resented the force of attraction that traps me here on Planet Earth. It makes me feel like a bug stuck to a piece of duct tape. Ever since my teenage years, when I used to read a lot of science fiction and took it much too seriously, I’ve dreamed of somehow reaching escape velocity. I am, you might say, anti-gravity. Charles Platt Read Quote
Personally, I believe that government, rather than money, tends to be the primary factor limiting the development of new technologies. Charles Platt Read Quote
The public is eager for stories of True Cybercrime, and the media is happy to glamorize the subject. But when teenagers take the bait and live out our fantasies for us, we punish them for frightening us too much. Charles Platt Read Quote
Watching cold fusion is like watching water boil in slow motion. First, sufficient deuterium has to penetrate the palladium electrode. This can take a few weeks. Then, if excess heat is generated during the next month or two, accurate temperature readings require extreme precautions to exclude environmental effects. Charles Platt Read Quote
Despite (or because of) a free public school system, millions of teenagers enter the work force without marketable skills. So why would anyone expect them to be well paid? Charles Platt Read Quote
The blunt tools of legislation or union power can force a corporation to pay higher wages, but if employees don’t create an equal amount of additional value, there’s no net gain. Charles Platt Read Quote
A future at Wal-Mart may sound a less-than-stellar prospect, but it’s a whole lot better than no future at all. Charles Platt Read Quote
When the International Space Station is finally launched, it will be fitted with special nickel-hydrogen batteries weighing a total of several tons, with a lifetime of just five years, requiring spares to be brought up from Earth at literally astronomical expense. Charles Platt Read Quote
Everyone knows that the broadband era will breed a new generation of online services, but this is only half of the story. Like any innovation, broadband will inflict major changes on its environment. It will destroy, once and for all, the egalitarian vision of the Internet. Charles Platt Read Quote
The landscape of the Net has changed; that cyberfrontier of the past has become a teeming city of people, transactions, and businesses. Charles Platt Read Quote
