It’s easier to invent the future than to predict it.
Michael Arrington
22 comments »
The title of this post, a (mis)quote from computer scientist Alan Kay, is the last line in a job listing posted by Jeff Bezos in 1994 to the Usenet group mi.jobs. The title of the job listing was “Well-capitalized Seattle start-up seeks Unix developers.” Via HackerNews.
A blast from the past!
Funny i see now, Revision date: 9/27/99 ; in my link! Hohoho, great!
and the great relevant google ads on the side. how abt same job description for fixing those
favorite.post.ever.
…especially after the beating my startup took today - this was exactly what I needed to read before heading off to bed - thanks Mike =)
Huh. I wonder how that worked out?
The future is more mediocre than you expect.
I think I’ll buy a Beanie Baby to remember this by.
Will put more attention to the title of announcements
“you should be able to do so in one third the time that most competent people think possible” - this shows how Jeff Bezos is obsessed with speed. Traits like speed, obsession for being first are very important to succeed in this online world. It is important to run faster than the rest to win the game. Being first is equally important ( if not more important) than being best. Thanks to techcrunch for teaching this tiny lesson by quoting Jeff Bezos
“you should be able to do so in one third the time that most competent people think possible” - this shows how Jeff Bezos is obsessed with speed. Traits like speed, obsession for being first are very important to succeed in this online world. It is important to run faster than the rest to win the game. Being first is equally important if not more important than being best. Thanks to techcrunch for teaching this tiny lesson by quoting Jeff Bezos
Ah, back when C++ was actually a sensible language to write a website in, and the Sun E450 ran the web…
Well, if by “invent the future” you mean “sell stuff online” … then, yes, that’s easier.
This is really cool… thanks for posting it Michael! This is amazing inspiration for us entrepreneurs out there in the world!
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com - Create Unique Memories
Thanks for posting this.
Just blogged about it (in Spanish).
Would have been nice to get on that wagon early…
Cool post! I’d like to see more posts like this!
“meaningful equity” in Amazon at its launch. Oh goodness, I wonder what that’d be worth now? Several million for sure, eh?
The funny part is Bezos came back to inspire Kay and Nicholas Negroponte of One Laptop per Child more then a decade later with his idea to sell the XO laptops as part of a “Give One, Get One” campaign…..
http://racetalkblog.com/
Thats great inspiration for the rest of us!
That’s a great flashback to one of my favorite years, ever. Thanks!
Why do you all think this is not a hoax?